Published: March 02, 2007 09:31 am      

Concert association unveils season

PALESTINE — Start spreading the news!

The newly “rebirthed” Anderson County Concert Association unveiled its inaugural 2007-2008 season Thursday night at a reception at the Ben E. Keith Community Room — in an effort to bring quality live productions to Palestine.

On tap for Oct. 18 is The Thüringer Salonquintett chamber music ensemble featuring two violinists, one cellist, one double bass and a pianist. Coming March 4, 2008, will be the “On Broadway!” 90-minute production which will feature glimpses of classic and newer Broadway shows such as “West Side Story,” “Oklahoma,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats.”

A tentative “Revolution: A Tribute to the Beatles” program is scheduled for May 1, 2008, which will feature a four-man group of Beatles impersonators complete with British accents that will take the audience time-traveling through the 1960s.

“This is a rebirth of a very active concert association that existed many years ago here in Palestine,” ACCA president Ava Harmon Hanson told the audience Thursday night during a short program to announce the season. “With your help and patronage of the concert association, I think this can grow into something wonderful.”

Louis Spoltore, vice president of operations for Live on Stage based in Nashville, told the audience the best way to get a concert association going was through word of mouth.

“Once you go ahead and make a commitment, you tell everyone you know. You go to the doctor and you tell them the news. You tell them about the great rebirth of the concert association. This works real well because you get excited about it. But the most important part is to make the commitment,” Spoltore said, encouraging the audience to become season ticket holders and patrons for the new association.

Live on Stage provides a wide variety of live productions for about 200 concert associations across the United States.

“We do have a lot of choices on how to spend our entertainment dollar and to have fine quality artists right here in your town is giving something back to the community,” Spoltore said.

Spoltore said success comes through balance.

“The key to success is to make everyone happy. You can’t have all classical or you might lose one side of the room — and you can’t have all modern or you lose the other side of the room. That’s what makes it work and be successful. You have to have something for everyone because what they want is variety,” he said.

Many of the productions offered by Live on Stage feature student outreach programs.

“Once the buzz gets going about the concert association, you need to get the schools involved. Let the children get involved,” Spoltore said, noting that many children have never seen a live production or heard classical music. “Even if it inspires only a few children to do something later in life, it will be worth it.”

The ACCA will be bringing the shows for the 2007-08 season to the Palestine Civic Center, a venue which holds up to 1,300 plus seats.

Cost of an adult season ticket is $40, which includes the three shows planned for the 2007-08 season. A student/child ticket costs $20 and a family ticket costs $100.

As an added bonus, those who buy season tickets this year also will have tickets to the Tyler Concert Series productions.

“To bring productions in, there is a cost, and you have to have people buy tickets to support it. We are looking for people to buy season tickets as well as underwriters who will help bring these programs in,” Harmon Hanson said. “And right now it’s a real bargain, because you are getting the bonus tickets to get into the shows in Tyler for no additional cost.”

Palestine has been the home of two previous concert associations over the years which started in the 1950s and disbanded in the 1980s.

Longtime Palestine resident Beverly Harrell remembers entertaining metro opera singer Beverly Sills in 1956, the first performer for Palestine’s first concert association.

Harrell was one of many Anderson County residents at the reception Thursday who said they were excited about the rebirth of the concert association.

“I love classical concerts. I go to Tyler dress rehearsals, so it’s nice to have something here,” she said.

Palestine Mayor Carolyn Salter said the concert association has a lot of benefits for Palestine.

“I think arts are an important part of quality life for our residents. It also brings in tax dollars that our out-of-town visitors will be spending while coming to the concert. I look at this as a base to bring more arts into the city,” she said.

Palestine resident Gwen Stewart agrees.

“I think this is going to be wonderful for Palestine. I think it will encourage a lot of in and out of town participants and be wonderful for the civic center,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about ACCA or becoming a member, may call Harmon Hanson at 903-391-0086, Linda Walton at 903-729-1789 or Shane Kapela at 903-729-6919, or send an e-mail to concertasso@aol.com.