The Sacramento Community Concert Association was organized
in 1953 by a group of volunteers who sought to bring high quality
artists to Sacramento at a reasonable price. Opportunities to
hear live music and to see nationally and internationally recognized
artists perform were limited. In a number of cases, Community
Concerts gave young artists a stage from which to begin their
careers.
The first concert presented in Sacramento by Community Concerts
was the Guard Republic Band . Since then the list
of artists, orchestras, and dance ensembles that have been part
of this history through the past fifty years reads like the "Who's
Who" of music and dance. Examples of great artists include
Leontyne Price, Yehudi Menuhin, Richard Tucker,
Brian Sullivan, Marilyn Horn, Frederica Von
Stade, Roberta Peters, and Robert Merrill. Add
to this list The Robert Shaw Chorale, Vienna Boys Choir,
Roger Wagner Chorale, River City Brass, Boston
Pops, The Red Star Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble
from Russia, and Her Majesty's Royal Air Force Band from
England.
Dance groups include the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo,
American Ballet Company, Robert Joffrey Ballet,
National Ballet of Washington, as well as ballet companies
from Cuba, New Zealand, France, and Canada. Ethnic dance groups
such as the Duka Ukrainian Dance Company, Soviet Georgian
Dancers, Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, Bayanihan
Philippine Dance Company and the Russian Seasons Dance
Company added to the diversity of the programs. Among the
many fine orchestras presented through the years there have been
the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Franz Liszt Orchestra of Budapest, Sofia Philharmonic,
St. Petersburg State Symphony, London Philharmonic
Orchestra, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
The concerts were first presented in the Memorial Auditorium.
One hundred and sixty-nine concerts were presented in that venue.
Since moving to the Sacramento Community Theater in 1981, one
hundred twenty-five concerts have been presented in the present
venue.
The idea of prepaid subscriptions to fund a
concert series was started in the Great Lakes region in 1927.
The concept of bringing live music and audiences together through
a prepaid series provided high-quality entertainment at a reasonable
price and provided opportunities for artists to perform for audiences
in small towns as well as large cities. Today, there are about
400 Community Concert Associations across the nation. Our association
is one of the largest in the nation, is financially sound, and
operates with a group of about one hundred volunteers. It is
a non-profit organization receiving funds from no other source
than subscriptions.
The success of these past years would not have been possible
without the loyal support of our subscribers and the many volunteers
that have worked for this organization. Many of the volunteers
still working today began in the early days of the association
and continue to be productive to the present day. Deepest appreciation
goes to all of them.
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