Friends of the SSSB and Those Who Enjoy Good Music

I hope that you have missed coming to our concerts as much as we have missed performing for your enjoyment. We have two concerts scheduled at Stone Memorial High school on Feb. 7 and April 24 or 25. However, we have been prevented from rehearsing as the school system has banned the use of the facilities thru Oct. 19. The system will be reevaluating whether to continue that ban into 2021, so we are up in the air as to if the above dates will work out.


It was only two weeks ago that I and our music director, Dr. Steven Sudduth, met to see how we could safely bring the SSSB musicians back together and start making music again. All musicians terribly miss performing, as this pandemic has curtailed our sharing of our talents for 8 months. So Steve and I developed the idea of an outdoor performance which would be safe for both the musicians and the public.  I would have loved to have given you more notice, but it has taken a couple of weeks to iron out the logistics and receive commitments from the musicians who were willing to get together with some safety precautions outlined in the information below.

You have two options to hear our concert:  (1) Live in the audience at the Cookeville amphitheater,  or (2) tune in to our Facebook page to catch the Live Streaming concert.

Hope to see you there, or if you decide to catch us from home. But either way, let me know what you think of this unique attempt to bring some musical joy to your lives. Share this information with your friends, and maybe make it a concert and a meal out at the many restaurants in Cookeville.

Sincerely,

Dwight Wages
Founder & President – Southern Stars Symphonic Brass
931-484-6939

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Catch the Southern Stars in their “Premier” of an Outdoor Concert

On Sunday, Oct. 18 at 3pm, the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass (SSSB) will be presenting their first concert since last February when the Covid pandemic postponed their season similar to most large scale entertainment locally and across the nation.

The SSSB musicians are eager to get together, as long as safety precautions are taken to protect themselves and the audience members. They enjoy making good music together and are providing this **FREE concert** (see below) as their gift to the area residents, to help raise the spirits of all who take advantage of listening to the event. To accomplish a safe performance environment the musicians will be spaced 8 feet apart, will have special bell coverings (“masks” for the bells of the horns), and where feasible they will perform while wearing a mask with a slit cut in the front to allow the mouthpiece to protrude to hook up with the instrument.

The concert will be LIVE STREAMED on the Facebook page of the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass at 3pm on Oct. 18. In addition, the public is invited to come to Dogwood Park in Cookeville (35 East Broad Street, behind the Police station and Performing ARTS Drama Center). There is a performing arts outdoor pavilion in Dogwood Park which has a tiered amphitheater that gives the audience a great place to watch and hear the SSSB in action. Social distancing of the audience is recommended.

The concert will be about an hour in length and the program will include a wide variety of music styles and genres to showcase the versatility of  this outstanding professional instrumental ensemble.  Concert selections will be:  John Williams stirring patriotic composition – “Summon the Heroes” which will honor all the heroes who have served us during the Covid crisis;  “Amparito Roca”  – a Spanish march;  “America the Beautiful” with a vocal by Emily McCormick;  “Georgia on My Mind” – flugelhorn solo by TTU jazz professor, Chris McCormick;  Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”;  “Amazing Grace”;  the big band classic “American Patrol”;  the classic “First Suite for Band” (Movt. 1)  by Holst;  Sousa’s “El Capitan” march: and to get us in the mood for the Christmas season “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.

The Southern Stars are in their 14th season of providing a 3 concert season in Crossville. The musicians are from the areas of Nashville, Cookeville, Murfreesboro, Crossville, Knoxville, and S.E. Kentucky and include University music professors, secondary school music directors, and other folks from non-music careers who are also outstanding musicians. Their conductor is Dr. Steven Sudduth who is a full professor and head of the band program at the University of the Cumberland in Williamsburg, KY.  They have produced 3 CDs & DVD and were honored with invitations to perform at the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, KY where they performed for audiences in the 5,000 to 8,000 range.

So grab a lawn chair or blanket and come over to Cookeville to enjoy the concert (rain or shine) and grab something to eat on restaurant row after the event, or sit in the comfort of your home and watch the LIVE STREAMING event on the SSSB Facebook page at 3pm, Oct. 18.

**  Due to the impromptu nature of this concert, there was not time to line up sponsors to help subsidize the expenses for the concert.   The cost for the event will be around $1900, which has been taken from the band treasury, to provide this much needed performance for our audience and the musicians.
A FREE WILL offering will be taken to help with these expenses.

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