For more than half a century, our Association has enriched the cultural life of our communities. We have presented musicians who have interpreted works of the great composers, while others have performed jazz, popular or folk music. In addition, we have presented both Canadian and internationally acclaimed ballet and dance troupes that have consistently been favourites of our members. In 1947, a small group of local citizens met and decided to bring professional concerts to Welland. From that beginning was born the Welland-Port Colborne Community Concert Association, which was in effect a licensee of Columbia Artists, a New York based corporation. In 1982, a decision was made to become independent of Columbia. This was done to enable us to have a wider choice of artists with a special emphasis on Canadian content and to have more control over programs at more reasonable rates. Our name was changed to Welland-Port Colborne Concert Association, and our programming changed to a wider spectrum ranging from jazz to classical music. We have become one of the great success stories on the Canadian musical scene. A number of concert associations have ceased to exist and the surviving ones envy our success. Not only do we have a “sell out” every year, over 90% of our members renew their memberships. In addition, we have consistently maintained a long waiting list of prospective members. Our membership is principally drawn from the southern tier of the Niagara Peninsula including a number of smaller communities in addition to the larger centres of Welland and Port Colborne. We have in the past presented four concerts, but since our fiftieth season (1996-1997), the number was increased to five, and currently six concerts are presented. All of our work is done by conscientious and hard-working volunteers in a non-profit and member-owned organization and we take our hats off to each and every one of them. Each Spring a brief campaign promotes the sale of subscriptions. This entitles each member to 6 concerts. Traditionally, we sell out quickly year after year. Renewals must reach us no later than Mid-April.
