The Longview-Kelso Community Concert Association is a volunteer organization that has been part of our community since 1937. It was originally organized nationally as “Community Concerts” by the Columbia Broadcasting System (now CBS). Its purpose was to bring high-quality, professional entertainment to smaller communities. Although there is no central Community Concert organization today, over 240
national groups still function independently for the same purpose by utilizing a common network and booking platform that enables quantity discounts for fine professional artists. This volume and infrastructure makes it possible to offer concerts at extremely low prices. The support services also make it possible for local volunteers to organize the concerts instead of requiring the manpower of paid employees. Longview-Kelso Community Concert Association’s existence depends upon the sales of season subscriptions each spring for concerts the following year. This generates, in advance, the capital with which we are able to fund our concerts. In recent years we have taken to selling tickets to individual concerts but the season subscription is the backbone of our organization. Additionally, the price of the entire season is about the same as the cost of two concerts - a compelling argument for purchasing the subscription. Another benefit of the season subscription is that other concert organizations in our network offer “reciprocity” so you can attend their concerts free of charge as long as they have available seating in their venue. This includes the whole season of concerts; typically four a year. Thanks to a partnership with Lower Columbia College, with support from the Hansen endowment, we are delighted to announce our return with a 2014-2015 season beginning March 23, 2014. This will be a special, 5 concert season over a year and a half. The new home for Longview-Kelso Community Concerts will be the beautiful Wollenberg Auditorium in the Rose Center for the Arts on the LCC campus. We are registered as a 501(c)3 under the Internal Revenue Service code so all donations are tax-deductible.
