It was 2004 when the first Van Wert County Young Artists Recital was held.\u00a0It was held, as it has been every year, in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in Van Wert.\u00a0The purpose of the recital hasn\u2019t changed much over the 13 years.\u00a0 We wanted to provide an opportunity for some of the more aspiring high school musicians of Van Wert, Crestview and Lincolnview Schools to showcase their talent for the public and fellow students to enjoy.<\/p>\n
For decades, the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA) has held solo and ensemble competitions throughout the state.\u00a0They are held on rotating Saturdays during the winter months of January and February.\u00a0Students prepare solo pieces of music, as well as ensemble performances, to be performed for an adjudicator.<\/p>\n
Through the process, the students hopefully grow in musicianship and learn musical teamwork by performing in ensembles.\u00a0The goal has been to encourage students to become better musicians through the process and receive critical and positive comments on their performances.\u00a0Many of you have probably experienced this yourselves, or have had children who have.<\/p>\n
The experience is one of immense growth: not only musically, but as a person.\u00a0You know what I mean if you have experienced it.\u00a0Being a former music educator, I realized that, although the solo and ensemble contest provided many positives, there were still more opportunities for growth for these young musicians.<\/p>\n
Although the students prepare for the contest, they sometimes are so concerned about a rating that they fail to enjoy the musical experience of playing for an audience.\u00a0In addition to this, there is limited availability for people to hear the music the students have prepared.\u00a0Oftentimes, they are playing for mom and dad (hopefully), perhaps their teacher, and an adjudicator.\u00a0 If they are lucky, there may be a few students waiting their turn to listen to their performance also.<\/p>\n
The Van Wert County Foundation, particularly through the Saltzgaber Music Fund, has been a leader in encouraging and providing for the welfare of music students in Van Wert County.\u00a0We provide scholarships each year to many students wishing to pursue college careers.\u00a0I felt there was an opportunity for us (the foundation) to also organize and present a showcased recital featuring the very finest of these student musicians.<\/p>\n
Through the Van Wert County Young Artists Recital, we are able to provide a quite different setting for them to perform in.\u00a0The sanctuary at First United Methodist has some of the best acoustics in the area.\u00a0We invite the public as well as other students and teachers from neighboring schools to hear the performances as well.\u00a0There are no adjudicators, just a friendly audience for them to perform for.<\/p>\n
I sincerely hope you can join us this Sunday at 3 p.m. for the 13th annual Van Wert County Young Artists Recital.\u00a0The teachers have recommended their finest performers and I hope the students are eager to share their music for you one last time.\u00a0Following the recital, we enjoy a reception where you, the public can greet, compliment, and encourage these fine young musicians.<\/p>\n
The Van Wert County Foundation thanks the students, their accompanists, teachers, and First United Methodist Church for participating in this annual event.\u00a0Over the 13 years, we have heard many fine musicians who are now out performing music, teaching, being successful business people, and being successful community leaders in their communities.\u00a0Just this past Sunday, a jazz quartet provided dinner music for a Valentine\u2019s Day dinner at our church and two of the members were alumni of our Young Artists Recital.\u00a0They were as good as any professional jazz quartet I\u2019ve heard in a long time.<\/p>\n
Who will be next?\u00a0Come and find out for yourself this Sunday as The Van Wert County Foundation proudly presents the 13th annual Young Artists Recital beginning at 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Van Wert.<\/p>\n
I also look forward to seeing you from the stage next\u00a0Saturday as I back up, as part of the Lima Symphony Orchestra,\u00a0legendary pop vocalist B.J. Thomas at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.\u00a0There are still a few select seats remaining, although it looks like it will be a full house.\u00a0I’m hooked on a feeling that raindrops will keep falling on your head. Sorry, just couldn’t resist it!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was 2004 when the first Van Wert County Young Artists Recital was held.\u00a0It was held, as it has been every year, in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in Van Wert.\u00a0The purpose of the recital hasn\u2019t changed much over the 13 years.\u00a0 We wanted to provide an opportunity for some of the more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 13:12:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73521\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}