Get Enriched with Community Concerts

The Niswonger Performing Arts Center just announced the new 2018-19 Enrich Community Concert Series this past weekend. It went on sale this past Tuesday to members, starting with the top level Maestro members.

Next week, sales will open to Principal members and the following week to Musician members. General sales for the series package will begin March 12. More details can be read at www.npacvw.org or you may stop by the box office and pick up a new brochure.  If you are on our mailing list, you should be receiving a copy in the mail soon.

We are very excited about the line-up for next year’s series. It includes two of our all-time most popular concerts in the past few years. It also includes two new concerts that fit perfectly with the philosophy of what Community Concerts are, and have always been, about: bringing world-class entertainment to you. Enrich is the perfect name for this Community Concert Series.

It all starts on Saturday, September 29, with one of the most popular Doo-Wop singing groups: Under the Streetlamp. These four energetic singers were founded from the sensational Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys Broadway show. In a short amount of time, they have become America’s favorite vocal group, singing the very best of Doo-Wop, Motown, and old time Rock ‘n Roll hit songs. They first came to the Niswonger five years ago and we knew we needed to have them back. You will love them as much as the sold-out house did back in 2013.

We then move into Christmas with perhaps one of the most intriguing and inspiring shows of the year.  It is titled All is Calm — The Christmas Truce of 1914 and will be our second event of the series on Sunday, December 16, at 3 p.m. Many of you are aware of the story of when during World War I, Allied and German soldiers put down their guns and began singing Christmas carols across enemy lines. This stage musical is a re-creation of that inspiring time when music and love brought enemies together on that magical Christmas Eve night in 1914. You will be transported to those enemy lines when a German soldier bravely stepped into No Man’s Land singing “Stille Nacht” and enemies became brothers on the battle field.

I can’t tell you how fortunate we are to have The King’s Singers as our third concert of the series on Saturday, February 16, 2019. I heard them in Fort Wayne a year and a half ago and have been talking with them ever since. I was blown away with their musicality and smooth blend and intricate harmonies.

Some of you remember them from years gone by. They actually got their start in 1968 as six recently graduated choral scholars from King’s College in Cambridge, England. The group became a weekly fixture on prime-time television singing popular music never usually touched by choirs. They have sung on most of the world’s greatest stages, from London’s Royal Prince Albert Hall to the Opera House in Sydney (that’s Australia, not Ohio), and, of course, New York’s Carnegie Hall. And now you get to hear them in Van Wert at the Niswonger!

We finish the Enrich Community Concert Series with perhaps the hottest performers we have ever had. The Texas Tenors will be returning with an all new show, “Let Freedom Sing.”  Some fortunate high school singers in the area will be featured on stage with these three tenors and their band to provide a huge finale to this show. We sold out two shows last year and just knew we needed to bring them back to Van Wert again (and again). So back by popular demand will be the Texas Tenors in “Let Freedom Sing” to finish off another spectacular Enrich Community Concert Series.

Since 1953, Community Concerts have been in Van Wert County and I am so pleased to continue this tradition in this cool and up-to-date series that still preserves the best qualities we have loved for many years at one affordable price. We have worked diligently to put this together much earlier than in the past because of when our last concert of the current series fell. This past Sunday was our last of the current series.  I thank my staff and committee members in helping get this ready to launch.

I hope you are as excited with this series as we are. Watch the mail for your mailer or check on-line for more details. In the meantime, we still have five or six great concerts and events for you to enjoy yet this season.

Remember, “Ohio Has Talent!” is this Saturday night. Just a few tickets remain. You can purchase them at the Niswonger Box Office and the money goes to a tremendous cause in Community Health Professionals.

FINÉ.