The Sound of Music Is a Classical Bargain : Entertainment: Three local concert associations stand ready to kick off a season of low-cost events.

Community concert associations are the Price Clubs of the classical music world. You have to buy their concerts in bulk, they offer a mixture of brand names and unknowns, and they have a location near you.

In Southern California alone, there are 33 of these nonprofit, independent associations, all of which are overseen by Community Concerts, a New York-based talent booking agency founded 63 years ago.

Each of the individual associations sponsors a concert season in its community. Locally, the San Fernando Valley association, based in Van Nuys, kicks off its season tomorrow night with a performance by the Bel Canto Trio, an ensemble of three young vocalists. The Lancaster Community Concert Assn. opener is Monday night, also featuring the Bel Canto. And in Glendale, the season begins with a Sunday afternoon concert on Oct. 21, featuring the Empire Brass.

Convenience is nice but not the biggest attraction at membership stores or community concert associations. People come for the bargains.

“It’s the best deal in music, these days,” said Owen Gruber, a long-time member of the San Fernando Valley association, where a regular season ticket good for four concerts this season, costs $20.

“Where else can you go to a classical music concert for $5?” Gruber asked.

Prices vary slightly at the other area community concert associations. In Lancaster, the cost of a four-concert season ticket is $25, and Glendale offers the best bargain of all--a six-concert season for $22.

The deals are even better for season ticket holders willing to do a bit of traveling. Most of the associations in this area honor one another’s season tickets under a reciprocity program. Without leaving Southern California, a roving ticket holder could take in a concert almost every weekend during the October-April community concerts association season.

“How could anyone turn down a bargain like that?” Gruber asked.

But apparently, people have. Community concert associations have played an important role in American music history this century, and many associations continue to be a vital part of their community’s cultural offerings.

Indeed, the associations in Glendale, which has 1,950 members, and Lancaster, which has 1,100 members, are at capacity.

But since the years following World War II, when community concerts associations were in their heyday, almost half have disbanded, including those in Burbank, Thousand Oaks and Hollywood.

The San Fernando Valley association, which was founded 45 years ago, is in danger of suffering the same fate. It is a victim of changing times and a dearth of new members.

“We are at a critical point,” said John Matola, treasurer of the San Fernando Valley Community Concert Assn., which at present has about 550 season ticket holders. When Matola joined the organization 13 years ago, there were 900 subscribers.

About 100 more subscribers are needed this year if the association is to meet its budget without additional contributions, Matola said. “There is a lack of support and lack of volunteers,” he said. “And that’s what you need to make these associations work.

“I would say that, unless something is done, our demise could be imminent.”

J. Stewart Nall, the president of Community Concerts in New York, acknowledged that the concept has seen better days, but he believes a resurgence is on the horizon. “It has been rough in some places, but we have worked hard to sharpen our promotional techniques and develop the kind of enthusiasm that brings in more members and volunteers.

“We have found ways to be competitive with everything else that is going on out there.

Community Concerts was born in 1927 when there was not much “going on” in classical music in many cities and towns across the country. Concert presentation, back then, was a risky business at best.

“You had a situation where there were entrepreneurs in communities all over the country trying to make a go of it by putting on concerts on an individual basis,” Nall said. “It was very unstable. If it happened to rain the night of a big concert and people did not show up at the box office, the event would be a disaster.”

To remedy this, a few prominent artist managers in New York came together to promote a concept they called the Organized Audience Plan. They would go into a community and offer to help form associations to sponsor several concerts every season. Admission to the concerts would then be sold on a season-ticket basis only.

“If you sell enough season tickets, you guarantee a season,” Nall said. “Then there is money in the bank to cover costs, even if a particular concert during the season does not attract a big audience.”

The plan was an almost instant hit, and in 1930, a group of managers banded together to form one big agency, Columbia Concerts Inc., to handle the bookings for the associations. The agency also sent representatives across the United States and Canada to bring new communities on line.

The agency, now known as Columbia Artists Management, eventually grew into an industry giant that represents many of the superstars in the classical field. It still oversees Community Concerts, although that is only a small part of its business.

From the beginning, Columbia did not collect any fees from the individual associations. It made its money off the usual booking commissions (which now amount to about 20% of the booking fee) from the artists hired to play community concert recitals.

In the years following World War II, with war-weary communities hungry for cultural attractions, the number of associations grew to more than 1,000. Some of the biggest names in classical music played their concerts, as did numerous young performers on their way up.

The San Fernando association, for example, presented concerts by soprano Leontyne Price and guitarist Andres Segovia.

But as the years wore on, the Community Concerts system began to lose ground. Nall puts the blame primarily on competition for the entertainment dollar. “In many places, we were practically the only game in town,” he said. “Then came other music series, not to mention television.” He also cites population shifts and a lessening of interest in classical music due, he believes, to cutbacks in school music education programs.

Currently, there are about 550 associations left, with a total of about 500,000 subscribers.

Ominously, the vast majority of subscribers at many associations are senior citizens, and there is little evidence that younger people are signing up. “We have tried to get a younger crowd,” said Caroline Matola, the San Fernando Valley association’s membership chairman. “I went to a few PTA meetings to try to get parents with children interested. But it just didn’t seem to work.”

The Rev. Eugene Golay, membership chairman of the Glendale association, which regularly sells out its season held in the Glendale High School auditorium, acknowledged that senior citizens dominate his group, too. But he does not see it as a drawback.

“People grow into this kind of music,” he said. “I just don’t think that people, no matter who they are, are going to go out and see a rock band when they are 70. And it’s perfect for people who are retired and living on a fixed budget.

“We lose some every year because they die, but we have a waiting list of people who want to join.”

For information on local Community Concert seasons, call (818) 784-6907 in the San Fernando Valley, (818) 243-8287 in Glendale or (805) 943-4835 in Lancaster.