Investigators worked Sunday to piece together what killed Whitney Houston as the music industry’s biggest names gathered for a Grammy Awards show that felt as much like a memorial as a celebration.The Noble County Concert Association will launch its 39th season Sunday by arranging for a young Frank Sinatra to share the stage with a young Barbra Streisand.
Perhaps now you can understand why the association has lasted almost 40 years.
In truth, the aforementioned concert – called “Barbra and Frank” – features two uncanny impersonators who not only sound like the singers but look like them, too.
Association President Harold Sollenberger said he and his fellow board members watched a DVD of this act (who were once featured on the ABC show “The Next Best Thing”) and were instantly smitten.
“Most of (the board members) are around age 80,” he said. “They saw those two performing and said, ‘That’s what we want.’ It was unanimous.”
Since 1972, the Noble County Concert Association has endeavored to expand the musical offerings in Kendallville and to make contact with concertgoers in northeast Indiana who might appreciate those offerings.
The association’s current subscription base is currently more than 400 season-ticket holders hailing from Kendallville, Angola, LaGrange, Ligonier, Fort Wayne, Auburn and Columbia City, Sollenberger said.
The forthcoming four-concert season includes performances by the Artie Shaw Orchestra and the United States Air Force Band of Flight.
Tickets can be bought at the box office for the East Noble High School’s Cole Auditorium, the place where the concerts are performed.
Season subscriptions can also still be bought for a limited time, Sollenberger said.
In recent years, the association started adding one regional group such as the Heartland Chamber Chorale or the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir each season to save a little money.
“Some of the people actually like local groups better that the professional ones,” he said.
Sollenberger said the woman who founded the Noble County Concert Association, Julia Atz, died in January. She was 86.
Atz was a music teacher, and Sollenberger is a retired biology teacher, but he said he has also been a passionate amateur musician all his life.
“I am a musician at heart,” he said. “I really find tremendous satisfaction, emotional expression and release in my music.”
