Fort Wayne Insider Blog

I first heard about the Vera Bradley Annual Outlet Sale in 2016. I had been in Fort Wayne for less than a year, and it just so happened that friends were visiting from out of town the weekend of the sale. I also had a performance with Heartland Sings scheduled for that Sunday (I’m a full-time vocal artist with the company)

You literally can’t ring in the new year without music! Fort Wayne, Indiana is the perfect place to celebrate New Year’s Eve, especially if you’re a music lover like me. Here are some of the best parties where you can shake and shimmy your way to another fabulous year.

Every profession has its busy season: spring for accountants, summer for lifeguards, fall for farmers. For performing artists, that busy season is winter thanks to all the holiday cheer that needs spreading!

It’s sometimes hard to get motivated to leave the house when the mercury drops, but the arts--theater, concerts, you name it--provide the perfect impetus to make a visit to Fort Wayne, Indiana. You get to dress up, enjoy a nice dinner and maybe a cocktail or two and then sit in a comfortable seat in a warm room while music, dancing, acting, or all three blow you away.

Many arts companies--orchestras, opera houses, theaters--work on the same schedules as grade schools, with the official “season” spanning from fall to spring. As a result, with fall now an undeniable presence, it’s officially Back to Concerts season in Fort Wayne, Indiana!

Taste of the Arts was founded in 2008 by Arts United in Fort Wayne and has since become an annual celebration of the arts (and delectable refreshments). Plus, it makes the perfect weekend to explore Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I’ve performed at Taste of the Arts every year since I moved to Fort Wayne as a Principal Vocal Artist at Heartland Sings, so I’ve watched firsthand as hordes of art lovers from Fort Wayne and beyond take in the sounds, sights, smells, and yes--taste--of the arts in this city.

When I moved to Fort Wayne from Ann Arbor, MI in 2015, I felt some trepidation. Most of my fellow graduates from the University of Michigan’s Master of Music program were moving to New York or Chicago, with their bustling arts communities; when I told them I was moving to Indiana to take a full-time singing position, they raised their eyebrows. Little did they--and I--know that I was walking into an arts goldmine.

What better way to get acquainted with The Clyde Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana’s movie theatre-turned concert destination, then to spend a weekend attending concerts there?

The Clyde Theatre is an old Fort Wayne, Indiana favorite, with a history dating back to 1951. It started out as a movie theatre, changed names, closed, became a church, and now rises from the ashes as an impressive concert venue with a capacity in the thousands. And national artists are noticing: in their first few months, The Clyde is hosting The Used, The Flaming Lips, B.B. King’s Blues Band, and more.

Summer is my favorite time of year. This is, partially, because I’m always freezing, but the abundance of summer concerts certainly doesn’t hurt. Plus, Fort Wayne is becoming sort of a music hub within the Midwest!