AMERICAN JUKEBOX:
A celebration of the nation’s top Pop music brings high energy, great performances and dazzling costumes.

Now entering into its 71st year, the Shasta Community Concert Association is hoping to boost its membership base in the South County area for the 2008-2009 season, said Jane Gordon Wittman of Anderson.

Wittman, who serves as chair of publicity, marketing and grants for the all-volunteer organization, is also a past president of the association, a position she held for five years.

Another South County resident, Janet Applegarth-Yarbrough of Anderson, took over as association president in 2006.

Each year, the association hosts at least five concerts featuring guest artists who contract for national tours with Live on Stage, Wittman said.

“Last year, more than 700 artists applied for one of the 42 slots offered by Live on Stage.

The upcoming season’s lineup includes a Sept. 4 performance by composer/guitarist/singer Pavlo with a style of music best described as Mediterranean. For those who might want a sneak preview of Pavlo, KIXE-TV, Channel 9, is planning to air a 90-minute special Public Broadcasting System performance beginning at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17.

Pavlo has recorded six albums and his music was used on two episodes of the “Chris Isaak Show,” in the feature film “Marine Life” starring Cybil Shepherd, as well as on CTV’s “Eleventh Hour.”

Each year, the association’s leaders attend an artist showcase in Nashville, Tenn., where various artists each perform a 15-minute to half-hour set, Wittman said.

“We saw Pavlo, who is our lead act this season, and he was marvelous,” she said.

Unlike some program subscriptions, the Shasta County Community Concert Association charges one low fee, $65 per adult or $40 per full-time student, for all five concerts. Alternately, a family – defined as two adults and two or more students – could purchase a family pass for just $160, Wittman explained.

Members who renewed their annual subscriptions prior to May 6 were able to save an additional $5 in each ticket category.

Thanks to some hefty sponsorship donations supplied by U.S. Bank and Redding Rancheria, the association also hosts a series of free 45-minute outreach performances on the morning of each evening concert to expose area school children to a wide variety of music and performance styles.

“It’s not all performing,” Wittman explained. “They talk about the instruments and do some musical education as well.”

Other concerts in the series lineup this year include:

Nov. 13 — Pianafiddle, a piano and fiddle duo that combines elements of bluegrass, jazz, classical, old time, ragtime, blues, Celtic and klezmer music into a veritable stew prepared lovingly by pianist Lynn Wright and violinist/fiddler Adam DeGraff.

Feb. 3, 2009 — An Evening with Dale Gonyea, whom the Los Angeles Times, no less, has dubbed an “heir to the piano comedy throne!” is making a return appearance to Redding. Since he was last here several years ago, one Manhattan radio station has named Gonyea its “Classic Comedian of the Year.” The artist has won an Emmy and had his songs nominated for a Clio award as well as nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Comedy Record of the Year.

March 2, 2009 — Crystal Harmony, an ensemble from Siberia formed in 2001, tours the world performing on instruments made from glass – glass goblets, glass tubes of varying lengths and glass flutes. Their repertoire includes popular classical melodies of Mozart, Boccerini, Vivaldi and Glinka. They have toured in Russia, Europe and Japan, and have contracted for annual performances at a museum of Venetian glass.

March 31, 2009 — American Jukebox, a live six-piece band rocks the house with music from the 1950s, Motown, Disco, Country and Blues while a cast of six incredibly athletic dancers who also sing put on a two-hour musical homage to American Pop music, complete with appropriate costumes and elaborate sets.

All concerts are at the Redding Convention Center, and all performances start at 7:30 p.m.

Adult tickets to individual events are $30 each, student tickets are $12 each. Single performance tickets go on sale one week prior to the performance date at the Redding Convention Center box office.

For a subscription, call Wittman at 365-2664, or order a membership on-line at www.shastacommunityconcerts.com