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About Us

Community Partners

Department of Music Community Partners are essential to the development and growth of our program.  The Department of Music is deeply committed to collaborating with and supporting our regional arts organizations and being their partner of first choice.  Examples of this collaborative engagement include:

  • IPFW provides rehearsal and performance space for several regional arts groups who are “in residence” at IPFW, including the Fort Wayne Area Community Band, the Fort Wayne Youth Orchestra and Unity Performing Arts Foundation (UPAF). 
  • Upon completion of the new IPFW music building, additional arts organizations will be housed in the structure to take advantage of space for office, storage, rehearsal and performance and to facilitate the sharing of their arts with the community.
  • VPA supports Fort Wayne downtown development through multiple presentations, including First Sunday Concerts at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, concerts at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL), and concerts in downtown churches, at the Embassy Theatre and Scottish Rite Auditorium.
  • VPA partners with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (FWP) through joint educational programming and employment of FWP musicians as music faculty.

The Department of Music is also committed to engagement with a variety of non-arts organizations to provide educational opportunities for our students while enhancing economic development and providing artistic services through:

  • IPFW Community Arts Academy year-round programming for at-risk students of partner organizations, including United Hispanic Americans, Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Child Protective Services, and the League for the Blind and Disabled.
  • Workshops and presentations for teachers and students of K-12 regional schools.

Our partners benefit from the expertise of Music faculty and students, as well as through recognition in VPA Visions, and advertising in VPA program books. 

To find out more about how you can become a community partner of the Department of Music, contact Chair Robert Bean at beanr@ipfw.edu or call 260-481-6714.