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<p>HAZLETON &#8211; The non-profit organization known as Greater Hazleton Concert Series started in 1935 under the banner Hazleton Community Concert Association. HCCA was affiliated with Community Concert Series, a New York organization founded in 1928 to provide professional performances to the public at affordable prices. When CCA folded and hit the auction block 12 years ago, HCCA was advised to change its name or face possible sale as part of CCA&#8217;s assets. That&#8217;s when Amelia Bergeron, president of the non-profit since 2002, added the name to her list of changes and refinements.</p><p>&#8220;This was baptism by fire for me,&#8221; Bergeron said. &#8220;Here I was a new president and CAA bellied up. I had very limited knowledge and what knowledge I had was from research of successful organizations. It was a real challenge but diversifying and opening ticket sales did a complete turn for us.&#8221;</p><p>HCCA was almost dissolved 14 years ago. Bergeron took the position and, along with its moniker, the newly-renamed Greater Hazleton Concert Series altered its strictly-classical calendar and changed previous policies that restricted ticket sales at the door. These changes, along with Bergeron&#8217;s grant writing success (she has applied for 77 in the past 12 years and has only been denied once), have helped pull GHCS away from near collapse.</p><p>With a new name and a new lease on life, it was time for Bergeron and her board members to start planning for the future. They&#8217;ve used their expanded resources to lengthen the concert season from four shows to six (sometimes seven during a special year). They&#8217;ve also started two scholarships; one for $300 that helps pay for private music lessons and one for $1,000 that&#8217;s given to a college student or graduating high school senior pursuing a career in the performing arts. They&#8217;ve also became a part of the local educational community by providing their scheduled performers to schools for assemblies and seminars.</p><p>&#8220;The performers actually go into the school and they give a presentation,&#8221; Bergeron said. &#8220;This is not a mini concert. They may play some selections, but it&#8217;s education; maybe about the music or the composers or how to make stereophonic sound. We&#8217;re very proud of that. In fact, I will say that I like those sometimes better than I do the concerts because it&#8217;s just wonderful to see the kids so excited with their hands raised up asking all these questions.&#8221;</p><p>Bergeron takes a performer&#8217;s willingness to visit schools into account when booking them, but that&#8217;s not the sole factor&#8212;according to Bergeron, the booking process is quite involved. First she researches the rosters of various talent agencies by looking up the different acts on YouTube. Next she&#8217;ll try to attend performances of prospective acts and ask entities that have worked with the act about the experience. Finally, Bergeron will take her selections to the non-profit&#8217;s artistic selection committee for a final decision. The committee takes audience opinion and preference into account; Bergeron knows they&#8217;re the ones supporting GHCS, so she listens when a patron pulls her aside at a concert or otherwise voices their opinion.</p><p>GHCS currently has between 900 to 1,000 members. Members get access to the entire GHCS season for $100, while tickets for the general public are $30 for each concert. Students can purchase individual show tickets for $10 or a season membership for $50. The GHCS board currently consists of 20 members, but can be expanded up to 30. Those interested in memberships, board positions, this season&#8217;s calendar or scholarship information can find out more at hazletonconcertseries.org.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Krasnoyarsk National Dance Company from Siberia performed as part of Greater Hazleton Concert Series&#8217; 2013-14 season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Krasnoyarsk-National-Dance-Company-2014a.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Krasnoyarsk National Dance Company from Siberia performed as part of Greater Hazleton Concert Series&#8217; 2013-14 season. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Local non-profit Greater Hazleton Concert Series celebrates 80 years of performances