Monday Top Ten: Marsha Waggoner, Modesto Community Concert Association

The 2015-16 season for the Modesto Community Concert Association begins with a program Sept. 13 featuring John Denver tribute artist Jim Curry.

MCCA is a decades-old provider of music and other programs in Modesto. One of the region’s surviving community concert groups, it offers seasons of shows for series subscribers and individual ticket holders. The association also offers outreach events, taking its artists to students in the community.

As part of our Monday feature that delves into the minds of the region’s movers and shakers, Marsha Waggoner, operations manager for the group, offers her list of the Top Ten things to know about MCCA – this week offered in a FAQ-type format:

Q. What really is MCCA?

A. A volunteer-run organization of music aficionados wanting to bring affordable, high-caliber musical entertainment to all in Stanislaus County.

Q. Has it been in existence very long?

A. MCCA was begun in 1950.

Q. Where do you present your concerts?

A. We are a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts and present our concerts in the Rogers Theater.

Q. What is a Community Concert Association?

A. It is an organization originally begun by Columbia Artists in the early 20th century to bring classically trained musicians to rural areas in the U.S. It is believed there are fewer than 100 organizations left in existence.

Q. Who selects the artists?

A. The artists are selected by a volunteer committee of the board.

Q. How are the artists found?

A. The operations manager works with agents, looks at the Internet, takes recommendations from residents, board members and musicians, and recently has added the showcasing of local musicians in one of our season concerts.

Q. Are you MoBand, or the Modesto Symphony Orchestra?

A. We are a totally separate and unique organization. We are for the most part not musicians and we book artists from all over the world. As a part of the arts community, we support all other arts organizations.

Q. Who might be an audience member?

A. A typical audience member would be any person, young, old, male, female, who enjoys music. We strive to engage families in bringing their children to see live performances. A subscriber benefit is “reciprocity” with other community concert associations, where one can attend any other concert association’s concerts for free when space is available.

We are fortunate to have both Turlock and Lodi within driving range and therefore can take advantage of their concerts as well as our own. (That means 15 concerts for $75, should you take advantage of every one).

Q. Do the artists interact with the community?

A. One of our main purposes is to bring those artists who are available to share their love of music with schoolchildren and senior citizens through our outreach program.

Q. What does MCCA wish the community, both individuals and businesses, would do to support it?

A. We would like the community to support MCCA by becoming a subscriber (subscriptions begin for our five-concert series at $75) and enjoy a Sunday afternoon of great musical entertainment.

Businesses can specifically help by making a donation to support our endeavors and/or purchase subscriptions to give to their employees or to clients as thank yous.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Monday Top Ten: Marsha Waggoner, Modesto Community Concert Association."