Saxophonist Marion Meadows, who has been gifting audiences with his smooth contemporary jazz music since 1991, will perform at the Athenaeum Theatre as part of Indiana Performing Arts Centre’s 10th Annual Benefit Concert. The performance will take place on Aug. 13.
Tickets to the event cost $30 in advance on eventbrite.com and are $40 at the door. The funds raised will go toward scholarships that allow students to take part in summer and after-school theater programs.
Though the Indiana Performing Arts Centre works with actors and actresses of all ages, its summer program focuses on young people. The program aims to provide youth with instruction in visual and performing arts while providing a sense of accomplishment and worth. Trina Dingle, founder of the Indiana Performing Arts Centre, said the program costs $225 per student, and about 75 percent of students in the program apply for scholarships.
“A lot of the kids we get over the summer are from single-parent households or the parents are on fixed incomes. I ask them to send a sack lunch and get problems with that. A lot of the time I need to supply lunch for the students. I feel the children shouldn’t be held back because of income. It’s not their fault,” said Dingle.
In addition to giving students experience on stage, one of Dingle’s goals is to teach literacy through the arts. More than 80 percent of funds raised at the Marion Meadows concert will go directly to student theater programs that allow children to learn while having fun.
“I think (people) should come out and support, because our youth are our future, and in the summertime when there is a lot of down time, we try to fill that with an educational component,” said Dingle. “They have to memorize those lines. They have to read and journal twice a week, they write what they learned, and it’s not really just putting up a play.”
The Indiana Performing Arts Centre is also preparing for its production of “Memphis the Musical,” running Sept. 21–24. The center has partnered with music director Kim Kenny and choreographer Nick Owens of Kenyatta Dance Company to bring this Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to life.
For more information on the Indiana Performing Arts Centre’s upcoming events and programs, visit ipacindy.org.
