Community Concert Association needs subscribers

The Merrick-Bellmore Community Concert Association has been a staple of the community since the early 1950s. It’s now winding down its 58th season, and it will begin the 2012-13 season, its 59th, in September. But if the organization is to make it to its 60th season, it may need a significant boost in attendance, said President Mark Manas.

Manas said he has attempted to change the culture of the association by integrating music that would appeal to younger audiences. “We’re struggling. We’re running on fumes now,” said Manas, who has been a Merrick resident for 20 years. “My idea is to change the whole focus to jazz, some rock, and see if we can get some of the 40-, 50- and 60-year-olds back in.”

Traditionally, the concert association specialized in classical music. Manas, however, said he believes the musical acts must be more diverse if the organization is to attract new subscribers. “When I came in, I said we kind of have to go in two directions here,” he said. “We still have to address the needs of the people who are currently subscribing, but we also have to branch off in another direction to lure people in.”

According to Barbara Turchin, the association’s vice president of sales, concert attendance began to decline in the mid-1990s. “The reasons are many –– an aging audience, classical music being considered elitist, less classical music taught in school, the Internet, etc.,” Turchin said.

The association recently branched into new genres, including a doo-wop show that featured three bands –– Danny & the Juniors, the Coasters, and Larry Chance and the Earls. The association also recently hosted a Brazilian jazz and big band.

For its upcoming concert, on April 21, the association will bring in the David Leonhardt Jazz Quintet, a band that blends mainstream and modern jazz, and has played internationally in China, Canada, France, as well as the Apollo Theater in New York City. Accompanying the quintet will be vocalist Nancy Reed and the Shelley Oliver Tap Dancers.

“I’m hoping that this jazz show will bring in some new people,” said Manas, adding that next season, he intends to bring in a bluegrass group from Tennessee. Another act for next season, said Manas, is a “shuffle concert,” at which audience members will receive numbered index cards listing 40 songs. The band will choose a number, and the individual who has that number can select his or her song from the 40-track playlist.

The April 21 concert will take place at Calhoun High School, on State Street in Merrick, at 7:30 p.m. Admission for the show is $20.

“We are completing our 58th season and would love to continue,” Turchin said. “But we need an audience. Merrick used to be a place where there were things to do locally ––three movie theatres, bowling alley, a concert series. It would be wonderful if Merrick and surrounding towns could be that way again.”