The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Niswonger hosts conference, concert

It’s another busy week at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. We are proud to be hosting the Ohio Music Teachers Association state conference this Thursday through Saturday. Nearly a hundred private and collegiate music teachers, students, and exhibitors will be moving into Van Wert for three days. During that time, they will be attending educational sessions, visiting exhibits, networking with other teachers, and attending concerts. They are staying in our hotels and eating at our restaurants.

We have conveniently scheduled a concert with the internationally acclaimed Five Browns; five siblings who all earned scholarships from the renowned Julliard School of Music as pianists. Can you imagine their home growing up?  Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra, and Desirae became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously.

The quintet enjoyed their first wave of critical attention in February 2002 when People magazine dubbed them the “Fab Five” at about the same time they were featured on “Oprah” and “60 Minutes”.  The New York Post proclaimed: “One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years. … When these kids do Rachmaninoff, they’ll make you forget about Marshall Amps.”

Since their inception as The Five Browns, they have garnered extensive coverage from media outlets ranging from “The Tonight Show”, “Good Morning America”, “The Today Show”, and “The View”, to CNN, “Fox and Friends”, Public Radio’s “Performance Today”, as well as The New York Times, Parade, People, The Los Angeles Times, the Sunday London Telegraph, Entertainment Weekly, and now their return to the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Van Wert. Their PBS TV special, “The Five Browns in Concert”, aired on PBS stations all over the country.

Their return concert to the Niswonger will be this Friday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m. Five Steinway grand pianos are being delivered from New York City and other locations in the Midwest. They will be tuned and prepped for their Van Wert concert in the Van Wert County Foundation Saltzgaber Music Hall. Some of their music being performed will be from their seventh album released just this year with Grammy award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse.

When you attend this concert Friday night, be aware that the Grand Lobby will be a busy place, filled with exhibitors from the OhioMTA Conference.  Some exhibitors may actually be open for you to peruse and purchase gift items and print music.

A few select tickets remain for this amazing concert and can be purchased at the box office in person or by calling 419.238.NPAC (6722), or online at NPACVW.ORG.

Before we welcome all the teachers, the conference, and The Five Browns, we welcome CEO/Speaker/Author Stephen Harvill Wednesday (October 11) at 7 p.m. Harvill has been sharing his concepts and strategies with small companies to Fortune 500 companies. The theme of his talk at the Niswonger will be “Why We Love the Movies.” It is an entertaining and educational presentation that takes you through the elements of the movie experience discussing story, the narrative arc, music, emotions, psychology, and the after effects of going to the movies.

We thank Central Insurance Companies for bringing this incredible speaker to the Niswonger. All tickets for Harvill’s presentation are $20 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.

I hope everyone enjoyed “An Afternoon with Jamie Farr” as much as I did.  He was such a genuine and funny man. He still has a bit of Toledo in him even though he has lived in California most of his adult life. What a story teller! I was disappointed we didn’t get to see him act in Tuesdays with Morrie, but it didn’t take long for him to mesmerize the audience with his stories of his life, experiences, and friends in Hollywood.

Don’t forget about our big Halloween celebration coming at the end of October with The Wizard of Oz. This is a huge Broadway show that will entertain everyone in the family. It starts at 7 p.m., being that the shows are on Monday, October 30, and Tuesday (Halloween), October 31. You’ll love the music, the costumes, and especially all the glamor of the staging and special effects for this classic show everyone knows and loves. Two shows, so make your choice now while seats remain!

FINÉ.

POSTED: 10/12/17 at 7:02 am. FILED UNDER: News