A thrill for Lincolnview music students

This past Monday, Lincolnview Local Schools and Vantage Career Center board member Eric German provided a thrill for nearly a hundred local students. Germann was honored as the 61st president of the Ohio School Boards Association in a ceremony held in the Columbus Convention Center. Congratulations, Eric!  As a result of that honor, the Lincolnview High School band and choir were invited to perform on stage as part of the program. Mrs. Anna Baker directs the band and Mrs. Stacie Korte is the choir director.

I was privileged to attend as the spouse of the choir accompanist and also as a trumpet soloist with the choir. I couldn’t help but notice the wide eyes of these local students as they entered the big ballroom of the Columbus Convention Center. I know how hard they have worked, preparing for their performances in front of nearly 5,000 attendees with standing room only. Each group did their school, President Germann, and our entire community proud as they performed on probably the biggest stage of their lives! Kudos to the kids, their directors, and the Lincolnview Local School District for giving them all this wonderful growing experience, which will likely be treasured by all of them for a long time.

This makes me think of the tremendous music opportunities many of our local student musicians have had even recently. Although I didn’t have the chance to catch Crestview’s production of Peter Pan, I heard it was outstanding!  And I’m sure the Van Wert High School band students are still cherishing their recent opportunity to march in “The Shoe” at The Ohio State University. There have been and will be more opportunities to come for many music students in our community. Remember, the next person you might see on the Niswonger stage could be a local musician of our very own!

Ready or not, here we come! Christmas at the Niswonger starts Monday, November 21. Elf, the Musical moves in for a rare Monday night Broadway Christmas show. We are fortunate that school is out of session on Monday with parent-teacher conferences. It takes a lot of backstage area to produce a four semi-truck show like Elf, the Musical. We appreciate the VWHS music staff’s cooperation of allowing us to utilize some of their space to produce these large shows.

Elf is sold out and has been for some time. Check at the last minute, though, to see if any tickets have been released. We would hate to have any seat go empty for this great holiday production. Four 53-foot semi rigs will empty a lot of gear and staging for this show, including an orchestra pit of musicians. I’m sure it will be a production you won’t want to miss, filled with laughter and music.

This will certainly be a perfect way to get into the holiday spirit as Thanksgiving Day will follow on Thursday.  And then we all know it is full speed ahead into the Christmas season with “Sandi Patty’s Christmas Blessings” on December 4, “The Andy Williams Christmas” on December 10, Handel’s Messiah at First United Methodist Church on December 11 and then “John Tesh’s Big Band Christmas” on December 17.

I hope you can join us at the Niswonger this holiday season. Our newly formed Visual Arts Committee has the place already decked out in the Christmas spirit and we can’t wait for you to see their new work. We can’t thank these people enough!

It’s always a magical time at the Niswonger during Christmastime and this year will absolutely be no exception. The Messiah community chorus has had two rehearsals already and can’t wait to lift your spirits on December 11 also.  Give thanks for the season and let music fill your lives. You’ll be glad you did.

FINÉ.