Unity Performing Arts Foundation: Building a New Fort Wayne Infrastructure

Business People, Aug 2008 by Bogle, Mary Jane

When Marshall White founded the Unity Performing Arts Foundation (UPAF) in June 2000, his primary goal was to raise a new kind of infrastructure in Fort Wayne - not buildings, but future stars. The result is a performing arts environment for young people, ages eight to 20, of diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds that highlights mainstream - or soulful - music like hip-hop, jazz, and rhythm and blues.

Through UPAF White has created an educational platform from which young people may learn, study and perform mainstream music. During the past eight years, UPAF has succeeded in bringing versatility to the performing arts community through its Voices of Unity Youth Choir. In addition to its annual summer and winter concerts, the Voices of Unity Youth Choir has performed at such high-profile events as the Fort Wayne mayoral inauguration and the Indianapolis Colts' season opening game. In August the choir will perform at the Lucas Oil Stadium grand opening before 4,000 VIP guests.

It is what happens behind the scenes, however, that makes this organization far more powerful than just a group of young people performing music. Based on the core values of quality, equality, integrity, accountability and respect, UPAF is in the business of developing people as much as quality performers.

In addition to artistic training, UPAF offers life coaching, mentoring and leadership seminars.

"I'm building great men and women - America's future stars who will draw people to this community," says White, who does so by challenging young people to pursue excellence in every area of their lives.

The success of UPAF graduates proves that point. Over 40 UPAF graduates have entered college, 20 in the last year alone. UPAF students shadow Fort Wayne professionals through White's mentoring program, and he creates customized internships for students, giving them a head start in their careers.

Here are their stories:

Lance Tolbert, bass guitar player for Mariah Carey

During the last five months, Lance Tolbert has spent his days flying across the country with Mariah Carey, performing live on Oprah and Saturday Night Live. When Carey launches her world tour this fall, Tolbert, her bass player, will be on board.

Jet setting with one of the world's most popular performing artists wasn't always in Tolbert's plans. When he joined UPAF in the summer of 2000, he had completed his freshman year studying biology at Indiana University and was on his way to a successful medical career. After one summer with UPAF, however, he returned to IU as a music major.

"UPAF gave me the confidence and experience I needed to earn a living doing what I love to do," he says.

Seven years later, having earned a Bachelor of Arts in music recording and production and a Master of Music in jazz studies from Indiana University, Tolbert headed to Los Angeles, where he quickly built a reputation as a quality bass player, first with independent artists and small recording sessions and later with R&B recording artist Van Hunt.

"My audition for Van Hunt was my first Hollywood audition," says Tolbert, who performed in front of American Idol's Randy Jackson, Van Hunt's agent.

From there, things moved quickly. It wasn't long after Tolbert returned from Van Hunt's world tour that he got the call from Mariah Carey.

"I'm doing things I've never done before," he says, including live performances for millions of TV viewers and sell-out concerts in London, Los Angeles and New York.

Tolbert is the first to admit his success didn't come overnight.

"My experience with UPAF trained me to perform at a high level," he says. "Marshall White taught us that if it isn't perfect, it's wrong."

That motto prepared him for his career today.

"There's no room for error in professional music," says Tolbert. "You have one chance to get it right."

In the midst of his busy performing schedule, Tolbert finds time to record performance tracks for the Voices of Unity Youth Choir and fly to Fort Wayne for the occasional Voices of Unity Youth Choir performance, fulfilling his UPAF pledge to "reach back to give back." And here's why: "Before Los Angeles and New York, UPAF gave me a platform on which to develop my skills and confidence in the professional world," he says. "Now it's my turn to give that experience to future stars."

Jimmie Jones, student, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

A UPAF member since 2002, Jimmie Jones has high aspirations in the music industry, but not as a performer.

Instead, he hopes to launch his own entertainment company, Excel Entertainment, the mission of which is "to institute an environment that will create fruitful entertainers who will contribute to redefining the world's view of entertainment." At the age of 18, he's well on his way to achieving that goal.

Jones, who joined UPAF when he was eleven, had already started writing song lyrics when he attended his first Voices of Unity Youth Choir rehearsal. He was hooked.

"I was attracted to the UPAF environment," says Jones. "It offered everything in which I was interested. Marshall White saw potential in my passions and opened doors in the community to develop my potential."