Perhaps a better title for this column would be \u201cHow do ya pick \u2018em?\u201d\u00a0 I get that question quite often, so I thought now would be a good time to do some \u2018splainin\u2019.<\/p>\n
First of all, there are really three categories I think of as far as programming concerts for the public.\u00a0 I guess I could say four when I consider the church music I am involved with at First United Methodist.\u00a0 So, here is a little insight of what goes into programming at Fountain Park, Niswonger Performing Arts Center, and church.<\/p>\n
At Fountain Park, I am looking for music that is fun, entertaining and of very good quality.\u00a0 I remember the first year (10 years ago) I booked musical concerts with local and regional performers I had contact with.\u00a0 Over the years, I have been able to expand my contacts and genres of music.\u00a0I now am able to bring performers to Van Wert that I have many times heard at professional conferences.\u00a0They are usually accepted to perform at these conferences by juries.\u00a0In other words, not just anyone is able to perform.\u00a0 They must reach a certain standard of performance before being invited to showcase at the conference.<\/p>\n
Not all performers come from jury-selected performances.\u00a0Occasionally I hear of someone from an agent I respect who has heard them perform.\u00a0Or perhaps someone has heard a performer and I check them out and decide if I think they may be a good fit for our typical audience.<\/p>\n
There are certain choices that are relatively \u201csafe\u201d choices.\u00a0 In other words, I know most people will enjoy them.\u00a0 Once in awhile, I take a stab at someone who might expand our audience tastes.\u00a0 I am happy to say that in most instances, the audience has been very satisfied once they give them a chance.\u00a0 I enjoy being able to do this on occasion.<\/p>\n
Different performers cater to different audiences.\u00a0 Although, some may not agree, I do try to cater to many ages of audience.\u00a0This season in Fountain Park, we will have music that spans across many generations.\u00a0I do have to admit that I sometimes find older people to actually be more open to different kinds of music than the younger generations.\u00a0 I am surprised at how many older people will listen to more current music than younger people will listen to older music.<\/p>\n
All this being said; my driving force for Fountain Park entertainment is pure fun and entertainment while presenting quality artists.<\/p>\n
When it comes to programming entertainment at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, there are two series to concern myself with.\u00a0 I also have a committee that gives valuable input.\u00a0 The Community Concert Series (CCS) is an established concert series with a long and respected tradition in Van Wert.\u00a0 The original concept of the CCS was to bring Carnegie Hall quality performances to the smaller cities and venues throughout America.\u00a0I try to continue that tradition by bringing, quite often, what I would consider the most talented musicians to the NPAC stage.\u00a0They may not always be the most recognizable names, but they are often the most talented; case in point: the American Spiritual Ensemble this past year.\u00a0 Few had ever heard of this vocal group, but now people still talk about that concert as one of the finest of the season.<\/p>\n
We also try to package the performances together in one affordable price.\u00a0 Many people are able to attend four to five performances for the price of one ticket of a headliner somewhere else.<\/p>\n
The Grand Series at the NPAC is where we move into the land of the big boys!\u00a0 Our venue at the NPAC allows us to do this.\u00a0 Many of our performers in the Grand Series have been seen on TV or Broadway or are certainly recognizable to the general public.\u00a0Variety is always considered, but mass appeal is also a big consideration.\u00a0I think you will find that this year\u2019s Grand Series will deliver once again.\u00a0It will be exciting, thrilling and create a big demand by the general public.\u00a0I think it will be outstanding!<\/p>\n
Everything we bring into Van Wert, in my opinion, needs to be of exceptional quality and must be acceptable to the high moral standards our community holds dear.\u00a0These are a few of the driving forces behind what we present through the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation and The Van Wert County Foundation.<\/p>\n
Our standards are high and we aim to keep \u2018em that way.\u00a0I feel Van Wert deserves nothing less!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Perhaps a better title for this column would be \u201cHow do ya pick \u2018em?\u201d\u00a0 I get that question quite often, so I thought now would be a good time to do some \u2018splainin\u2019. First of all, there are really three categories I think of as far as programming concerts for the public.\u00a0 I guess I […]<\/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-8045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 12:45:40","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\/8045","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=8045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}