Alex Platte is a business and estate planning attorney with Rothberg Logan & Warsco. He is a Fort Wayne native and graduate of South Side High School. He attended college and law school at IU Bloomington. Alex joined the board in late 2017.
How did you first get involved with FWCC? Though I was never in a choir year-round, I attended FWCC summer camps when I was a kid and had phenomenal musical and social experiences. As an adult, I want to do anything I can to preserve and grow the opportunities for children to learn and perform beautiful music. I pursued FWCC board service to contribute and to be a part of something great.
Why is FWCC important to our community? FWCC connects talented kids with authentic musical experiences. The difficulty of the repertoire and the excellence of the instructors challenges singers to expand their abilities. The concert schedule allows kids to perform with the best musicians, in the coolest concerts, and at the nicest venues available locally. The tours and other events allow our singers to build lifelong relationships, see new places, and carry the banner for Fort Wayne across the country and the world.
What were you surprised to learn about FWCC? At the board level, I was surprised to learn how sophisticated and strong FWCC has become as a non-profit. Thanks to my predecessors on the board and excellent staff leadership, FWCC has instilled many governance best practices and financial habits that some much larger organizations struggle with. 2020 has brought challenges we never anticipated, and we must stay “on the ball” to remain viable and relevant, but I’m thankful that we have a strong foundation to help weather the challenges.
Do you have a favorite FWCC memory? I will always remember attending FWCC summer camp and getting to work directly with Malcolm Dalglish, a world-class hammer dulcimer artist and an exceptional folk musician and composer. He taught us American folklore (songs I still sing!) and performed beautiful music with us, all while keeping us both laughing and inspired.
How does FWCC impact its singers? I believe that FWCC gives its singers confidence and courage through performance, an outlet for musical expression and development of musical talent, and a chance to build relationships with like-minded peers. At a time when school budgets are squeezed and kids’ arts choices at school are inconsistent across our region, FWCC has never been more important to its members.