Crossville’s professional instrumental music ensemble, the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass, presents its winter concert at Stone Memorial High School’s 1,200-seat auditorium on Sunday, February 20 at 3 p.m.
The band consists of 30 musicians who come to Crossville for rehearsals and gigs from the Nashville, Murfreesboro, Cookeville, Chattanooga, Crossville, Knoxville and southeastern Kentucky areas. They are made up of professors from the university music department, high school bandleaders and music educators, and freelance musicians from other careers. They are now in their 14th year of performing three concerts per season in Crossville after their founding by Dwight Wages, currently president of this 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
The upcoming concert will feature music “from the heart” that will have meaning for young and old who will remember their various crushes and romances over the years.
Concert selections will include “Essence of Brass”; “Cute,” a swing tune by Neil Hefti; “You Raise Me Up,” Euphonium soloist Briana Vogt; Walk “La Belle de Chicago” by John Philip Sousa; “I Promise You” by Gustav Holst; “Friend Like Me” (Aladdin) by Chuck Lyons with a bass trombone solo; “Burning Love”, an Elvis hit; “Let’s face the music and the dance”, an aria by Irving Berlin; “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” the Chicago band’s 80s hit song; “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, flugelhorn solo by Chris McCormick; “If We Hold On Together,” an Emmy Award-winning song; and “De-Lovely”, a Cole Porter medley.
The concert will also include a tribute to Tracy Luna (tuba), a founding member of the SSSB for 14 years, who recently died aged 48 the week before Christmas from her battle with pancreatic cancer. The group will perform the iconic march “Them Basses” in memory of Luna.
The “Tracy Luna Scholarship Fund” is being established for eligible students at DeKalb County High School, where Luna served as the band principal, for those who will be pursuing a degree in instrumental music at a post-secondary institution. A donation to this Southern Stars Symphonic Brass fund will be made at this concert.
Tickets for this concert are currently available at the following outlets: First National Bank of Tennessee branches in Crossville and Fairfield Glade; On It’s Way (UPS/Fedex shipping) in the Village Mall in Fairfield Glade; and Bed & Biscuit Kennel off Peavine Rd. Students are admitted free and concert tickets for adults are $22.
A “short season” ticket for the concert on February 20 and the last of the season on May 22 is a bargain at $35.
Sponsors for this event are: Bed & Biscuit Kennel (season sponsor); and concert sponsors Mary Helen McHugh of Better Homes & Gardens/Gwin Realty; Gordon Atchley – Farm Bureau Insurance; Tim & Sue Tewalt; and Bob & Jaye Emrick.
