T
urae Dabney, an ICC
singer from 1987 to
1991, speaks highly of
the relationships and
friendships she formed through
the ICC that she has kept up for 25
years now. Today, Dabney works as
a political consultant on campaigns
in Washington D.C. and across the
country.
“I’m not a musician now; I don’t
think I’ve sung since I hung up my
blazer,” she said, “but I often think
about how the choir has developed
me. It developed not only my
discipline of learning
music and coming
to practice, but the
persistence and
Although they lived in different states,
Mark and Katie discovered that they
had a lot in common. A spark was
kindled, and in 2010 they married,
bringing their families together in
Indianapolis. Today, the Landis family
has enrolled two of their sons in ICC
programs, to give them that once-ina-lifetime experience they knew and
loved, which brought them together.
“As a mom of an ADD child and
knowing what I was like as a kid, ICC
helped me a lot with my focus,” said
Katie. “Character development was
huge in ICC because it guided you
through those pivotal years where
you’re really defining who you are as
a person. You don’t realize how much
character development you get from
perseverance needed
to succeed in anything I
do. I was a very unique
individual when I was
in grade school, and
what I loved about choir
is that we were made
up of a whole bunch
of unique individuals. My uniqueness
was celebrated, and you don’t always
see that.”
the people around you until years
later—the friends you make in ICC are
lifetime friends, and their friendships
were very influential for me.”
Mark recalls his mother being
astonished at how his maturity had
grown tangibly over the course of
a week-long tour to New England.
She felt that he came home much
more grown up than he had left.
“I think the Indianapolis Children’s
Choir’s expectations of excellence
and attitude in creating that artistry
sets students up to be better than
what they would be otherwise,” he
said. “High expectations were a huge
help in my development of character
internally, and taught me how to treat
others with respect.”
Why did they want their children
involved in the ICC? “We wanted that
experience for them because we
know the quality and wanted them
to get the discipline,” explained Mark.
“They’ve seen me expect really high
levels of excellence, and they’ve heard
quality and done it in church choirs
and other settings, but it’s a big thing
for me to give them the opportunity
of a large choral experience with Ruth
Dwyer, Henry Leck, and now Josh
Pedde at the helm.”
“I think about how the choir
has developed me professionally.
It’s not only developed my
discipline, but also the
persistence and perseverance to
succeed in anything you do.”
An Experience to Pass on
to the Next Generation
Choir alumni Mark and Katie Landis
first met in the ICC in the 1990s and
became part of a close-knit group
of friends who, many years later,
reconnected on Facebook through
their shared stories and experiences.
ICC alum Turae Dabney shares ICC’s impact on character development
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