MOSES LAKE - Music is everywhere these days, of course - on phones, in the mall, in a lot of offices and stores. But there's nothing like live performance.

Sometimes it's a solo that catches the ear. Gladys Tracy, of Moses Lake, remembered the clarinetist who came to town with a New Orleans jazz band, one of the concerts sponsored by the Central Basin Community Concert Association.

The clarinetist killed it, and left a lasting impression. "I can just hear the music yet," Tracy said.

Sometimes it takes the listener by surprise. Ed Allan, of Ephrata, said he was skeptical about the opera singer who performed in Moses Lake in November as part of the concert association series. A recital by a soprano singing art songs and arias - Ed Allan was skeptical, but the music was great, he said.

Sometimes "you'll be surprised if you think you don't like it," Mary Anderson, of Moses Lake, said. Anderson, Tracy and Ed Allan are all on the concert association board. Gladys Tracy joined the association board in 1956, and there are about eight members who have been on the board for 40 to 50 years, or more.

The concert association will celebrate its 60th anniversary in the 2014-15 season. It was formed to bring live music to Moses Lake and the Columbia Basin. "There's nothing like live performance," Gladys Tracy said. For all the music that's available out there, "it doesn't compare to the live music," she said.

The concert association is a subscription series, where members buy one ticket for the entire season. There are no public ticket sales prior to the concerts. For 2014-15 tickets are $60 for adults, $30 for high school and college students (students must show identification), $135 for families and $85 for single parent families.

Gladys Tracy is 96 years of age and one of the group's most productive salesmen. "Who's going to say no to that sweet lady?" Ed Allan said.

The concert association is sponsoring a membership drive this week, with members selling tickets from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center, 401 South Balsam St. Season tickets also are available at Art Garden Pottery, 104 West Third Ave. in Moses Lake, and The Bookery, 1 Basin St. NW, Ephrata.

Concerts are chosen by the association board, which includes people from throughout the community. "We've got a 17-year-old and a 96-year-old and everything in between," Ed Allan said. The concert association has been lucky because its members have always been ready to work together, Nancy Allan said; Ed and Nancy Allan are among the half-century board members.The board is aided by a facilitator from Live on Stage, the agency that schedules the performances. The repertoire includes classical musicians, traditional music from Appalachia to Ireland to Cuba, gospel choirs, folk music, vocal and orchestral jazz, pop, country, Broadway. "They are first class concerts," Evie Vrieling, of Moses Lake, said, who's been on the board about 40 years.

Opera legend Leontyne Price was among the performers who appeared in Moses Lake through the auspices of the concert association, Pauline Lepsche, of Moses Lake, said. "It's hard to pick a favorite (concert)," because there have been so many good performances, Gladys Tracy said.

The membership drive is particularly important because the advance ticket sales help pay for the next year's concerts, Anderson said. The 2014-15 schedule includes a folk musician, a Celtic (Irish) quartet, a woodwind quintet and a saxophonist who will perform with local high school students.