LOMPOC CONCERT ASSOCIATION HISTORY
July 22, 1948 – Present (2007/8)
The first meeting for the Lompoc Concert Association was held on July 22, 1948. Mrs. O. B. Westmont organized the very first Board of Directors and continued serving in various capacities until May, 1963 and was a driving force behind Community Concerts for that period. At that first meeting Dr. L. E. Heiges was elected to serve as President of the organization and served for two terms. The Vice-President was Carlisle Stadley, 2nd Vice President & Membership Chairman was Mrs. Carl Kappler. The Treasurer was William Kay. Secretary was Mrs. Louise Hudson. Publicity Chairman was Mrs. Raulin and the Annual Dinner Chairman was Mrs. Raulin Ramos.
Members of the Board of Directors were: Mrs. O. B. Westmont, Mrs. Al Godden, Harold Cutting, James Hilburn, Mrs. Walter Anderson, Karl Wray, Mrs. Richard Henning, Mrs. Juan Flores, Mrs. David Florell, Miss Milania Austin, Ed Legge, Mrs. W. R. Hull and Clarence Blakeboro.
70 Workers were recruited to enroll an available membership of 534. Talent was to be provided by Columbia Artists Management of New York. There were to be 3 concerts held during that first season and all the concerts would be held at the Lompoc High School Auditorium which is now the Civic Auditorium. Season tickets were sold for $6.00 each with a single ticket cost of $3.60 including federal tax for “any out-of-town house guests who might be visiting” but sold only with prior reservation.
On the eve of opening day, October 11, 1948 a dinner was held for all the Officers, Board of Directors and the workers. The first “Canvass Committee included the following: Mrs. Eric Anderson, Mrs. Inez Austin, Mrs. Ethyl Bailey, Mrs. Ray Bateman, Mrs. Frank Beane, Mrs. C. M. Bodger, Joe Borzio, Mrs. Margaret Buckman, Miss Francine Cazenave, Mrs. Lester Cross, Mrs. Carl Deering, Mrs. Viola Dykes, Mrs. Eldore Eckert, Mrs. A. J. Engle, Juan Flores, Mrs. Kenneth Grimm, Mrs. William Harm, Mrs. L. E. Heiges, Jr., Mrs. Eva Henning, Mrs. Forrest Hibbits, Mrs. Orville Hoag, Mrs. Ralph W. Howard, L. C. Huseman, Stan Johnson, Carl Kappler, Rev. Albert Knoll, Ed Larsen, Mrs. Ed Legge, C. W. Levens, Mrs. Robert Lind, Mrs. Dick Lunt, Miss Carol Lyman, Mrs. A. B. Mackenzie, Neal Martin, Mrs. Howard Moore, Mrs. J. H. Morris, Mrs. Ed Negus, Miss Alyce O’Neal, Mrs. L. M. Peelyon, Mrs. Faye Porter, Mrs. Jane Reed, Mrs. A. Rivaldi, Mrs. Bert Romano, Mrs. H. J. Round, Mrs. Vivian Shanklin, Mrs. Hattie Smith, Mrs. Walter A. Snyder, Bob Speers, Miss Madlon Stadley, Miss Celia Staffensen, Mrs. Ray Swartz, Carlton Thomas, Mrs. Neal Westrope,Dale T. Wood, & Miss Pauline Yan Chuk.
During that first campaign a Composer Contest was held. 15 Portrait Posters were placed in 15 local businesses and whoever could correctly identify the 15 different composers would win a free membership to all of that season’s concerts. The winners were a young girl & boy by the name of Dolly Frieley & Bobby Valentine. The very first membership was sold by Dale Wood to a Mrs. D. A. (Laura) Henderson who was an elementary teacher. A total of 460 memberships were sold for that first season.
It was also decided that the memberships would be reciprocal with Santa Maria . Their first concert was held on October 27, 1948 at the Santa Maria Theater with Jorge Bolet, a Cuban pianist, performing.
The first concerts held in Lompoc were on November 10, 1948 with Mr. Abbey Simon, a pianist, performing. That first concert was enthusiastically attended and Mr. Simon performed 3 encores. The next concert was held on January 31, 1949 with performers Nikolai & Joanna Grauden, a Russian-born piano-cello duo. The last concert was held on February 25, 1949 with Mary Van Kirk performing. She was a famous radio and concert contralto. The budget allotted for bringing these first three concerts to Lompoc was $1,400. In September 1961 the budget was raised to $2900. In February 1963 the cost of membership was raised from $6.00 to $8.00 for adults and $4.50 for students.
In August 1951 an 8’7” Chickering black ebony grand piano was purchased from Barker Bros. in Los Angeles for $1,845 through outright gifts and no interest rate loans. The piano was then 20 years old but had been restrung , had new dampers and was in excellent condition. Johns-Manville made a cover for the piano in August , 1951. An adjustable piano stool was purchased for the piano in October, 1952 and the piano was finally paid off in May, 1961.
The first season began with 3 concerts per season until 1963/64 when it expanded to 4 concerts per season. During the first 20 years a total of 65 concerts were attended which included performers like the Vienna Choir Boys, the Clebanoff Strings, Yale Accordion Symphony, the First Chamber Dance Quartet and the Woodwind Ensemble to name a few. The budget for all of these concerts ranged from $1,400 - $3,350/year. In approximately 1960 it was decided to move the venue from the Lompoc High School Auditorium to the Calvert Theater on North “H” Street.
From 1968 – 1988 there were 80 concerts held including Christopher Parkening, Aman Folk Ensemble, New Christy Minstrels, the Tayloe Family and many others. The budget for these 2nd 20 years ranged from $2,750 - $9,000.
From 1988 – 2008 there were again 80 concerts including the Crescent City Jazz Band, the Butterfield Marionettes, Nashville Blue Grass Band, Joe Burgstaller, Alborado, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Woods Tea Co., Montana Mandolin Society, Quatrocelli, Bronn Journey, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, Presidio Brass & Chamber Orchestra Kremlin.
The budgeted amounts for these concerts ranged from $8,200 to the present day figure of $22,500. Season tickets now cost $45 for adults, $21 for students & $100 for a family.
During 60 years there have been a total of 225 concerts held with very different types of performers. All have been received enthusiastically by the Lompoc audiences. One artist, Thomas Uchtmann , a pianist, who performed here in 1967 later married a local girl, Linda Beattie. In 1977 when the Los Angeles Lyric Ensemble performed here with Jane Williams, a mezzo soprano, she was the daughter of a local family, Mr. & Mrs. Ray Williams.