Peace Country Overture Concert Association (PCOCA) fonds. — 1975-1986. — 3.5 cm of textual records.
Agency History
The Peace Country Overture Concert Association was formed in 1975 with the purpose of providing the district with an annual series of musical events under the guidance and direction of the parent body, Overture Concert Association of Canada. The agreement with their parent body required negotiating through them for all artist appearances and in return they offered to help with the initial formation of an association and membership campaign. PCOCA was responsible for raising funds by selling memberships and was responsible for paying artists’ fees and all production costs including rental of facilities, taxes, lighting, heat, piano moving and tuning, custom duties, shipping charges and publicity materials. Overture (Vancouver) arranged for the artists and tried to have at least one Canadian performance each year. The proposed budget for the first year was $6000 which was based on selling 100 $15 ( adult) tickets, 100 $10 (student) tickets and 75 $40 (family) tickets. Grants from Alberta Culture were an essential part of their budget. Ernest Townend was the President of the Association for the first few years and other directors over the years included Gordon Humphries, Eileen Barr, Dr. Donald Cottrell, Hew Kidston, Paula Bell, Leonard Gierach, and Patricia and Sydney Larter (president from 1981-85).
Their first season of concerts in 1975-76 got off to a good start with the Paula Mareno Spanish Dancers and the Russian harp quartet, “Chitiri Arpi”. The president’s report of 1981-82 states that in the “early days” even though 600 tickets had been sold, often only 250 people showed up for the performances but by 1980 fewer memberships were sold but more people turned up for the concerts and the association was still able to cover expenses. By 1984, memberships were down but fees had to be increased, and despite the optimism of the president, Sydney Larter, the association was having difficulty balancing their budget and there was a feeling that interest in the concert series was waning and other performance groups were now competing with them. The PCOCA’s final perfomance presentation appears to be The King’s Singers, on February 6, 1986, in the GPRC auditorium and their association filed for dissolution on July 11, 1986.
Custodial History
The records of the Peace Country Overture Concert Association were donated to the South Peace Regional Archives by Patricia Larter in 2010.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of executive records, correspondence, grant applications, facility agreements, and individual Overture Concert records.
Notes
Table of Contents
| Series 529.01 | Executive Records |
| Series 529.02 | Correspondence, Grants, Facilities |
| Series 529.03 | Overture Concerts, Newsclippings |
| Series 529.01 | Executive Records. — 1975-1985. — 1 cm.The series consists of incorporation documents (1975-1978), agreements with Overture Concert Associations, Vancouver (1975), minutes including financial statements (1975-1984), president’s reports (1981-1985) a sample constitution and by-law format, and a list of members (1982-1983). |
| Series 529.02 | Correspondence, Grants, Facilities. — 1976-1986. — 1 cm.The series consists of general correspondence, annual corporate summaries, (1975-1986), correspondence and agreements with auditorium providers (mainly Grande Prairie Regional College), copies of grant applications to Alberta Culture for funding (1977-1980), and a newsclipping warning of not taking provincial funds for granted. |
| Series 529.03 | Overture Concerts, Newsclippings. — 1976-1982. — 1.5 cm.The series consists of a list of all planned concerts from 1975-1985, a sample Contract For Advance Booking, agreements with Overture Concerts of Vancouver listing each season’s list of performers and costs, a copy of an interview with Sydney Larter, individual concert programs, photographs of performers, and copies of newspaper articles covering the performances. |