Fort Wayne Area Community Band

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…