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INfortwayne.com
June 16, 2017
Babies take first steps in music By Megan Knowles mknowles@kpcmedia.com
The First Steps in Music program offered through the Allen County Public Library may look like child’s play, but it is, in fact, helping build the foundation for a lifetime of music. First Steps in Music is a music literacy curriculum created by John Feierabend of the Hartt School of Music, said Becky Walter, Fort Wayne Children’s Choir’s Whitley Community Choir director and First Steps in Music licensed instructor. The program being used through the ACPL is geared for babies from birth to 36 months, Walter said, though other versions can be used in preschool and beyond. “Our goal is to build musical concepts and foundations from birth all the way up through adulthood. So we make children tuneful and, we call it beatful,…and artful,” she said. The program has already been successful in Whitley County and across the country, Walter said, making bringing it to Fort Wayne ideal. “[FWCC Executive Artistic Director Jonathan Busarow and I] had lots of talks about, what would happen if we brought this program to Fort Wayne because I just kept saying it’s so good, Fort Wayne doesn’t have anything
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By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
PHOTO BY MEGAN KNOWLES
First Steps in Music licensed instructor Becky Walter plays a children’s song on the autoharp during the inaugural First Steps in Music class on June 2 at the Aboite Branch of the Allen County Public Library. Walter is the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir’s Whitley Community Choir director.
like this,” Walter said. “To offer this for free through the library is great.” In the classes, which are being offered at all the ACPL branches, Walter provides colorful scarves, maracas and tap-a-taps for children to interact with to help teach
MORE LESSONS
Waynedale Branch: June 16, 10:30 a.m. New Haven Branch: June 20, 11 a.m. Hessen Cassel Branch: June 21, 10:30 a.m. Tecumseh Branch: June 22, 10:30 a.m. Georgetown Branch: June 26, 10:30 a.m. Grabill Branch: June 27, 10:30 a.m.
See MUSIC, Page A17
All-star cast to present ‘The Addams Family’ By Steve Penhollow For the Aboite News
PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
Cast members take on character and costume during a rehearsal for “The Addams Family” at Canterbury High School. The Fort Wayne Summer Music Theatre cast includes (from left): Atticus Bennett, Homestead High School senior, as Gomez Addams; Janae Jeran, 2017 Carroll High School graduate, as Wednesday Addams; and Kalee McCullar, 2016 Snider High School graduate, as Morticia Addams.
said in a phone interview. “We have a girl that’s from Huntington. We’ve had kids from Kendallville.”
The next Fort Wayne Summer Music Theatre See CAST, Page A17
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
INfortwayne Publications
When fine arts teacher Kirby Volz left North Side High School in 2012 for a job in Indianapolis, he made an unusual decision. He decided not to give up the Fort Wayne summer theater program he helped launch in 1998. Several times a year, Volz returns to the Summit City to keep the Fort Wayne Summer Music Theatre up and running. And he spends every summer here. The group is open to middle-school-age and high-school-age kids who live in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. It is also open to area college students in the middle of their freshman and sophomore years. “This year, we have a kid that lives in Antwerp,” Volz
J Taylors to play first of eight Aboite concerts Some of Fort Wayne’s most popular music acts will return to the 2017 Concerts on the Green series presented by the Aboite Township trustee. The music will flow from 7-9 p.m. eight consecutive Wednesdays at Indian Trails Park, just east of the Jorgensen Family YMCA on Aboite Center Road. Admission is free. The public will bring lawn chairs and blankets and relax on the lawn just south of the playground area. The Aboite Township Fire Department will sell hot dogs, chips and soft drinks. “It’s a good way to enjoy some music and to support the fire department,” Krisher said. Jonathan and Janelle Taylor — known as The J Taylors — will open
the series again this year. They will present crowdpleasing summertime favorites on July 12. Janelle Taylor is a graduate of Homestead High School. “My whole family is from the area, and it’s nice to be able to play in your own neck of the woods,” she said. Both Taylors attended Huntington College. They live in Fort Wayne. This marks the couple’s ninth year of presenting cover music. They deliver tunes from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Seeger, Jimmy Buffett, Linda Rondstadt, Patsy Cline and rock icons through the early 1990s. Loyal fans follow their show to area restaurants, such as Triangle Park about once a month. “We play a lot of shows See PLAY, Page A21