DCCA Selected to Receive Funding from Arts Midwest Touring Fund

Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) has been selected to receive funding from Arts Midwest Touring Fund, to present award-winning a cappella quintet VoicePlay as a Special Holiday Event and as part of DCCA's Arts In Education programming and for the 2019-2020 Season.

Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) has been selected to receive funding from Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional contributions from the Ohio Arts Council and the Crane Group.

Arts Midwest Touring Fund engages people in meaningful experiences with the fine arts of dance, music, theater, and other performing arts forms. Inter-state touring and the engagement of professional artists is central to the work of Arts Midwest.

Arts Midwest Executive Director David J. Fraher says, “Arts Midwest is proud to support Darke County Center for the Arts in their upcoming engagement of VoicePlay. Arts events like this not only provide uplifting experiences for audiences, they also create meaningful jobs for those employed in the arts industry – thus amplifying the effectiveness of our funding.”

Darke County Center for the Arts will present award-winning a cappella quintet VoicePlay in concert at Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall on Saturday, December 14; this special holiday event begins at 8 p.m. “Their hilarious on-stage theatrics and amazing musical skills combine to create inventive, unique, and memorable performances; that probably explains why our audience demanded that we bring VoicePlay back to our community,” said DCCA Artistic Director David Warner. “This holiday concert is like no other, but without doubt will inspire the joy of the season and spread holiday cheer,” he stated.

VoicePlay originally gained fame as a finalist on season four of NBC’s The Sing-Off, and has continued to win acclaim touring across the U.S. and around the world. According to Mr. Warner, the group’s members, Earl Elkins, Jr., Eli Jacobson, J. None, Geoff Castellucci, and Layne Stein, use only their own voices to create a fully orchestrated sound while performing songs from many eras in a broad variety of styles. “They have a lot of fun emoting and vocalizing and creating their own musical accompaniment, and that sense of fun is transmitted to the audience which can’t help but get caught up in the magic,” Mr. Warner commented.

Tickets for the VoicePlay Holiday Concert are $30, and can be obtained by contacting DCCA at 937-547-0908 or online at www.darkecountyarts.org. If any remain by show time, tickets can also be purchased at the door prior to the performance. Patrons are reminded that parking is now available at the new St. Clair Memorial Hall parking lot, which can be entered from Armstrong Street and Central Avenue.

Based in Minneapolis, Arts Midwest is one of six nonprofit regional arts organizations in the United States. Its mission is to promote creativity, nurture cultural leadership, and engage people in meaningful arts experiences, bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people’s lives. Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, Arts Midwest has been serving audiences, arts organizations, and artists throughout the nine states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and beyond. For more information on ArtsMidwest please visit www.artsmidwest.org.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

Darke County Center for the Arts presents and promotes performing and fine arts encouraging cultural enrichment. For more information on their 2019-2020 Kaleidoscope season and to purchase tickets, contact the DCCA Office at (937) 547-0908 or visit their website at DarkeCountyArts.org.