Fort Wayne Insider Blog

When things heat up outdoors, it means one thing for a musician like me: summer concerts! Fort Wayne, Indiana is awash with stellar concerts all year, but when the weather is nice, those concerts move outside.

As Indiana’ second-largest city, Fort Wayne is often visited by major headliners from around the world. Touring Broadway productions, Top-40 artists, famous classical artists--you name it, Fort Wayne has it.

When I first moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana in late 2015, I was surprised to find that some of my favorites restaurants around here were closed on Sundays. In fact, the only place I could find to have dinner on a Sunday was Scotty’s Brewhouse, a Midwestern chain restaurant. All my favorite local joints seemed to be taking the day off, especially the ones that served meals past brunch.

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.