This week’s featured board member is Kevin Christenson. Kevin has been a member of our board since 2014. He has two kids, Colin (16) and Katy (12). He and his family moved from Stratford, CT to Fort Wayne, IN his sophomore year of high school. His parents enrolled him in the high school marching band, and it was one of the best decisions they ever could have made for him. After graduating from Homestead High School in 1992, he immediately started teaching at area high school marching band programs. Something he is am still doing 25 years later!Kevin attended Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington and after moving back to Fort Wayne, graduated from IPFW with a degree in music education. He has been a band director, a music academy director, a music sales manager, and a private clinician. Kevin also serves on the board for FAME and volunteers at numerous music events each year. He has had a lifelong passion for music education and its undeniable positive impact on the human condition.
1- Why do you volunteer for FWCC? I became a board member of the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir after being asked by a FWCC board member, Justin Shurley, to serve on a committee for the FWCC Annual Do Re Mi Fund Raiser. I am currently still a member of that committee and we are already well underway planning the next Do Re Mi event taking place on February 3, 2018.
2- What were you most surprised to learn about FWCC after getting involved? After getting involved with the organization, I was surprised to learn how well trained the young voices of the choir become throughout the year.
I always knew the level of excellence the choir consistently displayed in performances but the overall curriculum is well thought out, proven, reinforced through performance, and built upon month after month, year after year. It is not just rote teaching; it is building a skill these students can use their entire lives, while making memories of singing that will stay with them just as long.
3- Why do you think FWCC is important to our community? I think the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir represents Northeast Indiana’s commitment to quality music education. What sets apart the FWCC is their long standing dedication to the craft of making music with voices at the highest level. The FWCC represents Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana in all of its travels
4- What is your favorite FWCC memory? My favorite FWCC memory is performing with Smooth Edge 2 at ChoralFest 2016 at Follinger Theatre. The choir members and the rest of the audience seemed to enjoyed the performance and our group was very honored to be a part of the evening’s festivities. Since I unfortunately was not a member of the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir, I did not sing but, I do make a lot of percussion noises with my mouth! Beat Boxing was pretty popular on the East Coast in the 80’s!