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Fort Wayne Area Community Band

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our History
    • FWACB Conductors
    • Board of Directors
  • Concert Info
  • Our Sponsors
  • Media Gallery
    • News and Member Bios
    • Photos
  • Join FWACB
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Apr 1, 2025

Newbauer reflects on her long musical experiences in Fort Wayne

By Vince LaBarbera
    “Music has been an important part of my life ever since I started
  playing trumpet at 10 years old,” said Mary Newbauer, a member of the
  Fort Wayne Area Community Band trumpet section since the summer of… Read more

Sep 7, 2024

Richeson, the Quintessential 'performance junkie'

by Rod King Alto saxophonist Joe Richeson was among the 35 musicians who answered the notice in The News-Sentinel asking for those interested in playing in a community band to come to Neff Hall on the IPFW campus. He’s just… Read more

Sep 7, 2024

Parallel histories combine to form near 60-year real friendship

By Rod King and Vince LaBarbera   Two charter members of the Fort Wayne Area Community Band raised independently of one another in adjacent states have had remarkedly similar lives.      Rod King was born and only child and raised in Bowling… Read more

Apr 30, 2024

Everett Hardy’s Name: Synonymous With Trombone

By Vince LaBarbera and Diane Whitacre  

   Everett Hardy is the principal trombonist of the Fort Wayne Area Community Band (FWACB). Born in Paris, IL in 1935, he began taking trombone lessons in fifth grade from Paris High School’s band director,…

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Jan 15, 2024

Jim and Tom Keefer: The More Different They Are The More They Are The Same

Keefer brothers Jim (left) and Tom (right) have been a part of the Fort Wayne Area Community Band’s tuba section since the Band’s inception 44 years ago. Following a recent Holiday concert in Auer Performance Hall on the local Purdue…

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Dec 12, 2023

Charter Member Bobby Patterson: A Faithful FWACB Screamer

Article by Rod King
Edited by Isaac Embree

       Flutist Bobby Patterson, known for her piercing Phantom of the Opera scream, is one of just seven remaining active charter members in the band. She wasn’t at the first rehearsal in Neff…

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Sep 19, 2023

Howard Lininger: Band's Eldest Musician is Proud to be a Member

Article by Vince LaBarbera

       Howard Lininger, the elder statesman of the Community Band, was born in 1930 -- the beginning of the Great Depression -- in Wesleyville, PA near Erie. When he was just a youngster, his mother obtained a…

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Sep 2, 2023

Trombonist Isaac Embree: From At-Large to In Charge

Article by Rod King

One can easily spot trombonist Isaac Embree at band rehearsals because he’s the one wearing a bow tie. In fact, he’s almost always the only one wearing a tie, period. It’s his personal fashion statement.

When…

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May 26, 2023

Charter Member Kulpa Seeks to Let French Horns Shine

Article by Rod King

       Dan Kulpa was one of the original 35 players who showed up at Neff Hall on the IPFW campus to play in a new start-up community band. Like the others in attendance, he answered an announcement…

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May 20, 2023

Jordan Black: "It's Great to Just Simply Get to Play"

Article by Vince LaBarbera
Edited by Isaac Embree

       Another one of the Community Band’s newest members is Jordan Black. He’s originally from a small town in southwestern Indiana called Freelandville – about 75 miles from Evansville – but has been…

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May 11, 2023

Bari Player Victoria Ricedorf Is One of a Kind

Article by Rod King
Edited by Isaac Embree

       Victoria Ricedorf literally stands in a class by herself among the ranks of the Community Band. She’s the only person who plays baritone (bari) saxophone!

       She purchased her beautiful silver-gray Cannonball bari…

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Apr 29, 2023

Kelly Hornbarger: "I can't believe this is actually my 10th anniversary with the band!"

Article by Vince LaBarbera

       Kelly Hornbarger is from Carlton, MI but has been living in Fort Wayne and playing with the Community Band as its principal flutist for 10 years. She attended East Tennessee State University where she received a…

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Fort Wayne Area Community Band
Purdue Fort Wayne Department of Music 
College of Visual and Performing Arts 
2101 East Coliseum Blvd 
Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499

The Fort Wayne Area Community Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  All donations are tax deductible.

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