When Jay and Patrice Fox walk into an Audiences Unlimited performance, they bring more than an accordion and two strong voices—they bring a relationship shaped by music, strengthened through service, and built in the very places AUE exists to reach.
How Audiences Unlimited built a bridge between them
It’s no exaggeration to say that without AUE, Jay and Patrice would have never met, let alone performed together and eventually fallen in love. Patrice was an activity director at a local senior living facility. She actually booked AUE programs long before she performed for them. Jay remembers meeting her in the mid-1990s through mutual AUE connections. When his band needed a female vocalist, the opportunity turned into a partnership. “When I heard that Patrice was a good singer, I called her and asked if she would be game to join,” Jay said.
When the partnership became a love story
There’s a moment in many love stories where a question quietly forms beneath the surface: Is this more than friendship? For Jay and Patrice, that question came after years of singing together—years of showing up, building trust, laughing through rehearsals, and making music for people who needed it.
“In 2003, we started dating and ended up marrying in 2004,” Patrice said. “We both realized that we were in love.” Jay acknowledges that making music with someone you love is both a gift and a challenge. They’ve made it work by doing what good duos always do: listening, adjusting, and staying committed to the shared purpose beneath the performance.
Making music accessible to those who need it most
As seasoned performers, Jay and Patrice maintain a full calendar. On weekends, Jay leads a 4–5 piece band called the Jammin’ Germans, playing throughout the region. “We travel about seven states,” Jay said. And Patrice founded and directs Fort Wayne Tänzer, a German folk dance troupe. But each is quick to say that there’s something distinctive about AUE audiences. 
“Our favorite audiences give us feedback,” Jay said. In AUE settings, that feedback might look like laughter, clapping, singing along—or even dancing with help from a friend. Patrice watches for the quiet signs of joy. “I’ll see a resident in a wheelchair tap a toe or finger. Music is such a catalyst,” she said. “It’s a gift for someone who can’t get out to experience live music.”
Music as a two-way gift
“Even on a bad day,” said Jay, “I can walk into an AUE performance and find myself transformed with just a couple songs. When you see the joy the music brings, and how much they look forward to it, it’s so rewarding.”
Jay’s favorite moments are the ones that feel like shared celebration. At a recent performance, as he launched into When the Saints Go Marching In, he watched the room turn into a parade. “Seven or eight members marched around with me,” he said. “I spent the whole hour taking requests. We had such a good time.”
A lifelong love of music
Jay is the kind of musician who doesn’t measure his experience in years but in milestones. “I had an anniversary yesterday of 62 years of playing,” he said. “Mom and Dad got me started at age 5.” He remembers those early influences vividly: watching Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show, family members dreaming aloud that he might learn the accordion, and the cultural soundtrack of his upbringing. Jay’s mother was German, and it was only natural that he would end up playing cultural music, Oktoberfest style.
His musical journey took him far enough to become a four-time U.S. champion in age group competition, and far enough that music became not just his art, but his livelihood. “I own a music store where I sell accordions and everything that goes with them,” Jay said.
Patrice’s musical roots are equally heartfelt. “Music can touch a soul,” she said. “It has really helped me throughout my life to express myself and get through rough patches in my life’s journey.” A typical fine arts kid, Patrice was involved in band, choirs, and theater from an early age.
Learning to play instruments was her passion. She loved cantoring at Mass and was a wedding /funeral singer for many years. Patrice began formal voice lessons at 15 and quickly grew into a multi-dimensional performer—singing, dancing, choreographing, directing, and working in theater productions.
More than performers: partners in purpose
Jay and Patrice’s other activities are a reflection of who they are—people who build community through culture. Patrice’s Fort Wayne Tanzer performs at German Fest each year and recently experienced honor of being judged by Germans through Gauverband standards. Jay supports that world too, often as the musician behind the dancers—another example of how their marriage and music continually overlap.
But for all the other stages where they perform, AUE remains close to their hearts because it puts their gifts where they matter most. “People need to realize how important AUE is,” Jay said. “Half of your physical health is mental health. Listening to or performing music has a huge impact on our physical health.”
Joy through the journey
Ask Jay and Patrice why they keep saying yes—month after month, room after room—and they’ll tell you it isn’t complicated: “We’re not doing this to get rich. We do music because of the joy you give—and the joy you get.”
For Jay & Patrice Fox, that joy started as a song shared onstage. Through Audiences Unlimited, it became a mission. And somewhere along the way, it became a love story—still playing, still singing, still inviting others to join.
