Tonto Community Concert Association
The Rim's home for Music & Concerts.
Payson High Longhorn Theatre
Since 1978, the Tonto Community Concert Association (TCCA) has brought world-class entertainment to Rim Country through it's annual concert series. The goal is to provide culturally-enriching opportunities to Payson residents and surrounding communities, as well as to support fine art education within the Payson educational system.
The TCCA Board of Directors is comprised of a number of volunteers who support the organization with their yearly subscriptions and gifts and volunteer time to ensure the operation is both efficient and effective. There are no paid staff members.
TCCA is able to book high-quality talent through a professional relationship with Live On Stage (LOS). Since its establishment in 2002, LOS has become the industry leader presenting talent to community concert organizations, attracting over 400 artist submissions each year. More than a booking agency, LOS is committed to the well-being of volunteer nonprofit concert presenters. LOS staff and regional representatives spend hundreds of hours each year working with their affiliate organization board members, providing Website assistance, online ticketing services, press releases and strategic planning consultation.
In past years, a group of TCCA board members attended an annual conference hosted by Live On Stage in Nashville, Tennessee at mostly their own expense. Since Covid, conferences are now conducted online. Board members review videos to select future seasons.
Over the course of one afternoon, representatives from all over the country watch 20-30 showcases by artists selected from that year’s submissions. Each performer has 15 minutes to convince these organizations to bring them to their community. The biggest issue is selecting the final choices for the upcoming TCCA season – Live On Stage presents so many talented performers, it’s difficult to narrow it down!
Once desired performances are chosen, the TCCA Board and Live on Stage staff begin to work out the logistics in bringing each artist to Rim Country. It’s extremely challenging to put a concert schedule together, but ultimately the result is a series of concerts that seems to get better each year. While only two concerts were offered when TCCA first began, the current season consists of eight offerings. It is always a very eclectic line-up from Broadway to Classical, from Country to Comedy – and much, much more!