Modesto Community Concert Association

Our 59th Season!

2009-2010 Season  Tickets  About MCCA  Outreach - Young Artists  Facebook & Twitter 
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The purpose of Community Concerts is to bring audiences and artists together. Every individual should have the opportunity to experience the best in live performing arts.

We hope to do this in a way that will encourage the mysterious and elusive magic of live performances to blossom again and again - at an affordable price.

Your Modesto Community Concert Board.
If you have any questions about the Modesto Community Concert Association or any of the concerts, please submit your question below or write to us at modestocca@gmail.com:
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2009-10 CORPORATE SPONSORS:

DIAMOND $5,000+

PLATINUM $1,000 to $4,999
Hart Floral - in kind
Modesto Bee - in kind
Never Boring Design - in kind
North Modesto Kiwanis
Ramada Inn - in kind

GOLD $500 to $999
MOCSE Credit Union

SILVER $100 to $499
Artemis Healthcare
Crawford Financial Planning
Dr. Gregory Tesluk, MD
Gottschalk Music Center
Gowans Printing - in kind
Guitar Center - in kind


2009-10 GRANTS


 
MCCA Officers and Board of Directors 2009-10

OFFICERS
Co-President               Wallace Ruch, Jr.
Co-President               Marilyn Rowland
Vice President             Jackie Zimmerman
Operations Manager         Marsha Waggoner
Treasurer                  Linda Kong

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Anita Altman
Roberta Bica
Carla Bratcher-Broderick
Margie Butler
Doug Chadwick
Jack Clark
Walt Golden
Jenny Krajewski
Susan Levy
Linda Matthews
Alta Robbins
Catherine Ruch
Janice Shafer
Darrell Staats
Nancy Wilson

VOLUNTEERS
Martha Azizi
Carla denDulk
Tina Driskill
Diane Hinckley
Steve Pecsek
Chuck Sheaffer
Perry Sedoo
MCCA – The Beginning

On January 5, 1950, the Modesto Community Concert Association was organized to meet the demand for more cultural entertainment in the Modesto area. The concerts were operated under the Community Concert Service Division of Columbia Concerts, Inc.

The first membership campaign was held over a one-week period, beginning February 27th and ending March 4th, 1950. In six days over 1,300 subscriptions were sold and the membership drive was closed. Columbia Artists Management was contacted and four concerts were arranged for the first season.

The first concert was the Revelers Male Quartet on February 8, 1951. Completing the first season were concerts by Rudolph Firkusney, pianist; Tossy Spivakovsky, violinist; and Nadine Conner, soprano. Each season, at least three and up to six concerts have been offered, depending on availability of performers and funding raised through subscription sales.

For over 50 years Modesto Community Concert Association has brought to Modesto such talented artists as William Primrose, violinist; Claudio Arrau, pianist; Eileen Farrell, soprano; Boston Pops Tour Orchestra; Leon Fleisher, pianist; Joffrey Ballet; Victor Borge; Lili Krauss, pianist; The Roger Wagner Chorale, and many others.


The History Of Community Concerts

The history of Community Concerts parallels in many ways that of the past century. In the 1920's, America underwent rapid change and modernization, and the performing arts were no exception. While Chautauqua tours, traveling minstrel shows, and vaudeville had created a national appetite for live performances, they were disappearing from the scene. There was a demand for concerts, but the question was how to find a new way to cover their cost.

In 1927, an idea destined to revolutionize the performing arts in America, sprang up simultaneously in the Great lakes region, and in several Eastern states. Instead of struggling to make up deficits after the fact, people thought, why not raise some money first and then hire the artists? It was a plan that worked. Audiences, it seemed were willing to spend a modest sum in advance for a season of three or four concerts, even if they didn't know what the concerts were going to be. This principle of raising funds to secure a season prior to contracting is Community Concerts' “magic ingredient”. It insured the success of the humble experiments that grew first into the organized audience plan, and ultimately into Community Concerts, the largest, most enduring network of performing arts presenters that has ever existed.

The organized audience idea caught fire and spread, fostering cultural development on an unprecedented scale. Families, who had been indifferent to “highbrow” single concerts, were attracted to a whole season with varied offerings at a reasonable price. People, who had never been to a concert before, were being invited to attend by people they knew - ordinary folks who lived in their neighborhood, went to their church, and whose children attended school with their children. The early quality performances featured artists including Vladimir Horowitz, Lawrence Tibbett, Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin. A new appreciation for the performing arts, deeply rooted in community spirit, was being nurtured by the organized audience movement across North America, contributing to the nationwide growth of local symphonies, theaters and dance companies.

Although the stock market crash of 1929 threatened this brave experiment in the arts, Community Concerts continued to grow from 42 Community Concert Associations at the start of the Depression to 335 by 1940. People were determined that economic deprivation would not deprive them of beauty and meaning in their lives. Minutes from Association meetings held in Dust Bowl towns refer to families who could not afford the fifty cents to attend the concerts, and were being carried by loans from neighbors or by the Association itself. Concerts were regarded as more than mere entertainment; they were a lifeline to humanity and normalcy.

After World War II, Community Concerts expanded rapidly. Between 1945 and 1950, the total number of Community Associations rose from 330 to an all time high of 1,008. Audiences enjoyed the talents of performers like Rudolph Serkin, Paul Robeson, and the Von Trapp Family Singers. Community Concert Associations were formed in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and even, briefly, South Africa.

Since then, Community Concerts has continued to adapt to change, and has successfully weathered many challenges. Faced with the advent of television, competing performing arts presenters, and changing lifestyles, the total number of Associations has declined from the remarkable figures of the early 1950's. However, Community Concerts remain a vital force in the arts world today with more than 400 affiliate Associations. Community Concerts programs have contained artists including Van Cliburn, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe, the London Symphony orchestra with Andre Previn, Claudio Arrau, Leontyne Price, and a wide and impressive variety of others. The concerts continue to be of the highest quality, a vital mix of major stars and performers still on their way to prominence.

The traditional organized audience Associations remain at the heart of Community Concerts' business, but now small colleges, private schools, planned communities, and other interested presenters are also invited to participate.

Webmaster: Steve Pecsek modestocca@gmail.com