Who We Are and How to Contact Us

    The Oneonta Concert Association began, in Oneonta, New York , as the Oneonta Community Concert Association in 1927, when it presented its first concert, bass Lawrence Tibbett, who was also just beginning his career. In the intervening years, more than three hundred concerts have been presented by the Association to tens of thousands of Oneonta area concert-goers. The list of artists is long and impressive, including pianist Leonard Pennario; violinist Jaime Laredo; cellists Colin Carr and Julian Lloyd Webber; vocalists Rise Stevens, Maureen Forrester, and Paul Robeson; orchestras from Munich, Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Stockholm; dance of the Royal Winnipeg and Indianapolis ballets, Alvin Ailey, and Joffrey II; multi-instrumental group Oregon; The Count Basie Orchestra; and chamber, folk, and jazz ensembles from around the world.
 

    In the mid-1970s the Association ended its alliance with Columbia's Community Concert programs. As an independent organization, OCA has been able to bring artists from many agencies, greatly expanding the variety and quality of available talent. OCA's completely volunteer staffing allows most of its funds to be devoted to artist fees. The Board of Directors is proud to represent the OCA subscribers, and pleased to be able to offer the fine artists coming to Oneonta this and every season.
 

    Our annual subscription drive establishes the Association's audience and funds before the concert season, permitting early guaranteed concert bookings, which gives us the best choice of artists at less cost. Because we book an entire series, the cost per program is only about $10 for adults and $5 for students. A family of four pays about $5 per concert per person - less than the cost of a movie. Everyone is invited to purchase a season subscription, and, of course, donations are appreciated and tax deductible.
 

Board of Directors

Tom Austin, President
Christina Chrislip, Vice President
Jeffrey Hahn, Treasurer
Christine Bulson, Recording Secretary
 
 
Lawrence Armstrong
Tom Austin
Muriel Beattie
Lucy Bernier
Christine Bulson
Christina Chrislip
Ned Eastman
Jeffrey Hahn
Olga Irwin
 		 Frederic Johnson
Diana Staley Kang
Bruce Knauer
Debbie Reep Maskin
Margery Merzig
Jean Miller
Kelly Pinney
 		 Scott Rabeler
Lisa Ryland
Paul Scheele
Kathy Shimberg
Beth Shultis
Ann Slocum
Ann Wallace
 
Emeritus
Janet Bresee
Sandi Fleisher
Lucille Frisbee
Howson Hartley
Ruth Hartley
Susan R. Hughson
Kathrine Kotz
Kathleen Sisson
H. Laverne Thomas
Edith Wilk

The board of directors is all-volunteer. If you think you might be interested in serving on the board, get in touch.


You may contact us via telephone, e-mail, or snail mail.

Phone: 607-432-0147 or 607-865-6540
E-mail: Oneonta_concert_association@yahoo.com
Snail Mail: Oneonta Concert Association, PO Box 244, Oneonta, NY 13807


OCA History

     In the summer of 1928, two representatives from a New York group calling themselves Community Concerts visited Oneonta to discuss their plan to bring quality concerts to cities throughout the United States.  These people approached Mrs. David Mills, an interested Oneonta musician, who became enthusiastic about their idea.  She, in turn, asked a group of women from the Oneonta Women's Club to work as volunteers to sell memberships in what was then called the Oneonta Community Concert Association.  They canvassed the caity and established a board of directors (with Mrs. Mills as president) interested in bringing fine music to Oneonta.

    The first concert was held in 1929 at the Junior High School, located then on Academy Street.  Baritone Lawrence Tibbett, then early in his long and distinguished career (and later a star of the Metropolitan Opera), was the first artist to perform.  Some of the outstanding concerts presented during the 1930s were the Don Cossacks Men's Chorus, tenor Paul Althouse, the Hall Johnson Choir, tenor Nino Martini, and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.

    By the late 1930s, membership growth required a larger hall, and concerts were moved to Oneonta State's Old Main and to Hartwick College.  Perhaps the most famous artist to appear during this period was pianist Joseph Hoffman.  Dorothy Maynor, a soprano, and violinist Mischa Elman also performed.  Many of the Association's members dressed formally for the concerts, and the younger female members served as ushers, also wearing formal dress.

    During World War II membership dropped somewhat; however, even then the Association was able to present fine musicians such as duo-pianists Bartlett and Robinson, bass-baritone Paul Robeson, tenor James Melton, the Trapp Family Singers (on whose lives "The Sound of Music" was based), pianist Rudolf Firkusny, the DePaur Chorus, and Piatigorsky again.

    In 1941-42, the Association presented a symphony orchestra for the first time.  Since then, some of the greatest American orchestras have performed here: the Indianapolis, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Wasington National Symphonies, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Symphonic Orchestra of Brazil (with pianist Christina Ortiz), and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

    In the 1940s, concerts also included pianist Jorge Bolet, vocal duo Todd Duncan and Camilla Williams, mezzo-soprano Rise Stevens, the Roger Wagner Chorale, organist Virgil Fox, and the Julliard String Quartet.  Other noted artists appearing under Association auspices in the 1950s and 1960s were Metropolitan opera contralto Mildred Miller, pianists Samuel Lippman and Charles Rosen, and Paul Doktor, viola.

    Since 1964 many Association concerts have been held in the Oneonta High School Belden Auditorium, but some are also held in Oneonta State's Goodrich Theater and Hunt Union Ballroom, and in the First United Methodist Church.

    Association programming began a gradual shift in the mid-1970s to include ballet and dance, jazz, and folk music.  Dance companies performing here have included the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater, Jose Greco, the Joffrey II, Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, Momix, Mummenschanz, Ballet National du Senegal, and the Tamburitzans.  Jazz artists Marian McPartland, guitarists Charlie Byrd, the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, James DePogny's Chicago Jazz, the Count Basie Orchestra, and pianist Hank Jones have also performed.

    Another sea change also occurred in the 1970s: in 1977 the Association ended its 50-year alliance with Columbia Artists' Community Concerts, and dropped the name "Community."  As an independent organization, the Association is able to bring artists from any artists' management (including Columbia), which greatly expands the variety and quality of talent available.  This change also required that we rely completely on our own resources, with no backup support, to sustain the Association and continue the long tradition of binging live, professional classical music, dance, jazz, and folk concerts to Oneonta-area residents.  At the same time, the Association decided to stop calling itself a "membership" organization, selling season subscriptions and individual concert admissions instead.

    The Oneonta Concert Association works by choosing its concert series in early spring for the following September to May season, and holding its annual subscription drive in April and May.  The purpose of an annual drive is to establish the Assoiciation's core audience and funds in advance of the concert season.  This permits early guaranteed bookings which in turn allows for best choice of artists at less money.  In this way the Association functions with the least amount of volunteer time and the least financial risk.

    Everyone is invited to subscribe.  The annual subscription fee allows a subscriber, whether an adult, student, or an entire family, to attend all concerts in the series.  We also often conduct a brief fall mini-drive for subscriptions.  Admissions to individual concerts are also usually available, but only at a significantly higher cost than subscribers pay.  

    The Oneonta Concert Association is a non-profit organization governed by a 33-person Board of Directors from Oneonta and surrounding communities, often including Cooperstown, Milford, Delhi, Sidney, Unadilla, Walton, Otego Morris Franklin, Stamford, Worcester, Gilbertsville, and Norwich.

Thanks to Paul Scheele for the above information.