Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band

While “All in the Family” might bring to mind a historical comedy show, there will not be a guest appearance by Archie Bunker in the opening concert for the 8th season of the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass (SSSB). What will be featured as the theme of the concert suggests, will be young soloists from within the band as well as very talented children of these musicians. The band itself is made up of 30 professional musicians who have built their reputation on providing “Premium Entertainment.” The concert will be held at the beautiful 1,200 seat auditorium at Stone Memorial HS in Crossville, TN, beginning at 3:00 pm Central Time.

There will be four featured soloists presented who are from the SSSB “family.” The first will be a father & son cornet duet of Stephen Collins (SSSB Eb Soprano Cornet musician) and his son, Nathaniel. They will perform the selection “Quicksilver.”

Nathaniel Collins began studying the trumpet at the age of six. He is an eighth-grade home schooled student who studies trumpet with his father. Nathaniel is a member of both the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band of Knoxville Christian Youth Bands, and he is a member of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra. He was selected by the International Trumpet Guild to receive a scholarship to attend the 2015 ITG Conference and was selected first chair Gold Band at the 2014 ETSBOA Middle Area Junior Clinic. In his free time, Nathaniel enjoys reading and playing football.

Erica Birmingham is the 16-year-old daughter of SSSB percussionist Kelly Jo Birmingham. Erica will be featured as a vocalist in performing the jazz balland, “At Last.”

This song was made famous by such jazz vocalists as Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, so Erica will be in good company as she presents her rendition accompanied by the Southern Stars.

Some may remember Kelly Jo and Erica performing a xylophone duet with the SSSB in 2013, as Erica is also a very talented percussionist. While in the 7th grade she was asked to play in the Dekalb Co. High School marching band for her percussion skills.

She has made the All Mid-State Honors band for two consecutive years and is frequently asked to sing the National Anthem at school sports events. Erica pans to attend Belmont University and major in singing/songwriting.

Alex Wilborn, is the principal solo cornet for the Southern Stars, and is a senior trumpet performance major at TTU.

Alex has developed a national reputation through winning of many competitions. He was the first chair trumpet in band, orchestra and jazz band at the prestigious Interlochen Music camp where the top youth in North America are showcased.

Alex is now in the process of evaluating several offers from top graduate schools as he prepares to take the next stage in his musical career. He will perform the exciting cornet solo, “Song & Dance.”

The last soloist is the SSSB’s principal euphonium, Jack Lorens. Jack is a junior music major at MTSU who will perform the difficult selection, “Pantomime.”

He is also recognized as a rising star on his instrument, as he has been either a semi-finalist, or finalist at the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium competition. This competition showcases the who’s who of the world as the upcoming top instrumentalists on the euphonium.

The euphonium is a member of the tuba family, and is often a solo instrument in brass band arrangements.

Other music for this concert in addition to the above soloists, will be: “Review March” by John Philip Sousa (World premiere performance by a brass band), “Be Thou My Vision,” “Caravan,” (made famous by the Duke Ellington Big Band; “Digger March,” “Where Eagles Sing,” “Sonata Piano Forte,” a baroque double brass choir, “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” and “Festive Overture” by Shostakovich.

Tickets for the concert are on sale at the following outlets: Cumberland Eye Care (Drs. Galloway and Holt) in Fairfield Glade, First National Bank of TN branches in Fairfield Glade and Crossville, Bed & Biscuit Kennel, and at the Cumberland Co. Playhouse.

Adult tickets are $22, and as a special offer, students will be admitted free.

Season tickets for the three-concert season are a bargain at $50 versus purchasing the three concerts separately at $69, and season ticket holders qualify for a ticket exchange for any concerts they have to miss.

The other concerts are: Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3pm featuring music of England, Scotland and Ireland; and Saturday April 20 at 7 pm featuring Nashville guest artist, Buddy Greene and Friends.

Filed under: Uncategorized on October 9th, 2015 | No Comments »

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass (SSSB) will be presenting a Memorial Concert on Sept. 27 to honor the memory of Dr. Kelly Thomas, who died in June of a wasp sting. Dr. Thomas was only 40-years-old, and left a wife and 4 children who reside in Niota, TN.

Kelly was the professor of Tuba/Euphonium at the University of Tennessee, a position which he had held for one year. He also was the principal euphonium musician with the SSSB and the ensemble’s musicians are donating their talents to perform this concert to honor one of their own.

Professor Kelly Thomas, euphonium

The concert will be held at the Cornerstone Church, located at 1250 Heritage Lake Blvd in Knoxville. The concert will be at 3:30pm on Sunday, Sept. 27.  Admission is free and an offering will be available to support the Thomas Family Fund.

Dwight Wages is the President and founder of the SSSB and had this to say, “Kelly had only performed a couple of concerts with us, but he made a great impression on his fellow musicians in a short period of time. He was a terrific musician and what really impressed me was what a great father he was to his children. It is also obvious that he was a great mentor to his student musicians.”

The concert program was selected to represent music enjoyed by his family, sacred music, euphonium/tuba feature selections, and inspirational music. The program includes:

• “Summon the Heroes”

• “Be Thou My Vision”

• “Melody Shop march”

• “If We Hold On Together”

• “Bugler’s Holiday”

• “Amazing Grace” (previous two selections will be presented by the Tenn. Tech. Univ. tuba/euphonium octet),

• “Pantomime” -euphonium solo

• “Make His Praise Glorious”

• Holst’s “1st Suite in Eb” (mvt. 1)

• “Closer Walk with Thee”

• “Walking with Heroes”

• “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

Guest vocalist, Brenda Frye is an operatic soprano, and she will be singing “If We Hold On Together” and “You”ll Never Walk Alone.”

Thomas family portrait

This is a great opportunity to hear an inspirational Memorial Concert honoring Kelly Thomas who was an outstanding individual and left this world too soon.

Even if you did not know Dr. Thomas, this is an chance to hear a really outstanding musical ensemble that is the only professional brass band of this kind in this area and adjoining states, and is building a reputation for their “Premium Entertainment.”

Contact Dwight Wages at 931-484-6939 for additional information about this event, or about the Southern Stars Brass Band in general.

Filed under: Uncategorized on September 16th, 2015 | No Comments »

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band, a 30-piece professional brass ensemble directed by Dr. Steven Sudduth, has announced their 2015-16 Season

All concerts are in the Stone Memorial High School auditorium, a beautiful 1200-seat facility. Ticket price for Adults is $22 each for the first two concerts and $25 for the final concert. Student tickets are $5. Season tickets for the three-concert Crossville series is a bargain at $50. Season ticket holders sit in a reserved section and can exchange tickets for a different concert if they need to miss a concert.

Filed under: Concerts on July 28th, 2015 | No Comments »

Filed under: Concerts on April 18th, 2015 | No Comments »

The Southeast Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conference will be the hosted by Dr. Kelly Thomas and the University of Tennessee School of Music March 19-21, 2015, and the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band is slated to perform.

The conference will feature artists and ensembles from throughout the region. In addition, the conference will be featuring a unique competition format, administered by David Zerkel (Professor of Tuba/Euphonium, University of Georgia).

Click here for a schedule of events in PDF format

Other ensembles slated to appear at the conference include:

4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra
Midtown Brass Quintet
New Acoustic Metal Experiment
University of North Carolina Greensboro Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
Ohio University Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
Henderson State University Tuba Choir
North Florida Tuba-Euphonium Explosion
Valdosta State University Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
East Tennessee State University Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
University of South Carolina Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
University of Tennessee Faculty Brass Quintet
Tennessee Technological University Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
University of West Georgia Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
University of North Carolina Pembroke Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
Charlotte Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 18th, 2015 | No Comments »

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass perform Sunday, Feb. 8 at 3 pm at Stone Memorial HS in Crossville. The theme is “Curtain Up!” and will feature music of Broadway, TV, and the movies.

Guest vocalist is Brenda Frye, a terrific soprano, who will sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Softly, As I Leave You.” Other special guests for this concert are the Tennessee Technological University Trumpet Sextet, who will perform the “Overture to Candide.”

Special soloists for this concert include and a xylophone solo by Kelly Jo Birmingham on the piece, “Xylophonia.” The rest of the program will be drawn from the following: Strike Up the Band, Fanfare & Flying Theme (from “E.T.”), Liberty Bell March, Disney Fantasy, Overture to the John Wayne class movie the “Cowboys,” Cartoon Classics, St. Louis Blues, and John Williams in Concert.

Filed under: Uncategorized on February 6th, 2015 | No Comments »

A recent Christmas concert on Nov. 23 presented by the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass (SSSB) was a resounding success with an audience of nearly 1100 attending this free admission concert.

The concert was sponsored by Bed & Biscuit Kennel (Season sponsor), and Concert sponsors – the City of Crossville, Happy Hound Realty, and Cookeville Regional Medical Center.

The program of Christmas and holiday selections was enthusiatiscally received by the audience. Local soprano vocalist Brenda Frye was the featured performer along with several instrumental soloists from among the talented musicians of the SSSB.

This concert is a bi-annual event given by the Southern Stars as their way of thanking the Cumberland County area businesses sponsors and their concert audiences for the financial support that has allowed them to become a cultural mainstay for Crossville for the past seven seasons.

At each Christmas concert, the SSSB selects various non-profit organizations to receive donations from a free-will offering taken from the audience in attendance.

The receipients this year were the Christian Counseling Center of Cumberland County (CCCCC), and Stone Memorial High project to improve their sound system in the auditorium.

As a result of the generosity of the Southern Stars musicians and the large audience, the SSSB presented $914.61 to the CCCCC, and $900 to Stone Memorial High School’s auditorium sound system project.

SSSB President, Dwight Wages, had the following to say about the donations made possible by their Christmas concert.

“When I founded this ensemble in 2008, there were many in the music entertainment arena who were skeptical that a large 30 musician group like the SSSB could survive financially by charging for tickets to hear the group.”

“Our existence for seven years is proof of the high quality of our concert performances and that local residents have recognized that our premium entertainment is something that justifies their support as well as the businesses that have continued to sign on as sponsors,” Wages added.

“Because of this support, the SSSB sees the bi-annual Christmas concert as our way to thank our sponsors and the greater Crossville area for their support and at the same time meet the dual purpose of providing a free admission concert for the general public and donate much needed funding for local non-profit organizations,” Wages said.

Christian Counseling Center of Cumberland County is in its 12th year, providing a full range of affordable, professional counseling services from a Christian perspective to children, teens, adults, and couples.

Clients pay only what they can afford based on their family’s income. Though our counselors all work from a Christian perspective, clients do not have to be of any particular faith, or have a faith at all, to be served.

Offices are located in the United Fund Building in Crossville; satellite offices are located in Sparta and Fairfield Glade. Their Executive Director Carol J. Donalson, LPC-MHSP, is available to speak at local churches and civic organizations on Christian Counseling Center’s services and mental health and relationship topics.

For referrals or questions, the Christian Counseling Center can be contacted at 931-707-8200. For more information, also see the website at www.cccotp.org.

The project at Stone Memorial High School is being coordinated by Ned Serleth (Theater instructor) and volunteer to the Drama department (Susan Jay).

The projected needs to make improvements to the sound system and stage area is projected to cost $8300.

This includes the purchase of special microphones to allow audiences to hear better the drama musicals/plays and vocal/instrumental performances, improved acoustic hookup locations in the stage area, and removal of auditorium entrance doorway restrictions which prevent musical equipment being able to be moved on and off the stage.

If you would like to contribute to this project at SMHS, contact Susan Jay at 585-455-1671.

Filed under: Uncategorized on December 29th, 2014 | No Comments »

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band kick off their seventh season with a salute to our Armed Services on Sunday, Sept. 28, at Stone Memorial High School Auditorium.

The band is excited to welcome back Technical Sergeant Brandon Jones, an alum of the band who is now a solo euphoniumist with The United States Air Force Band Ceremonial Brass, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C.

Brandon Jones will perform two solos with the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass

For tickets:
Tickets are available starting Monday, August 18 at our normal outlets; Cumberland Eye Care, First National Band of TN branches in Crossville and FFG, Bed & Biscuit Kennel, and at the Cumberland County Playhouse.

Questions, contact:

Dwight Wages
President, Founder, and Artistic Director
SSSB
931-484-6939

Filed under: Uncategorized on September 23rd, 2014 | No Comments »

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass (SSSB) present their last concert of the 2013-2014 season on Saturday, May 17 at 7 pm at the beautiful 1200-seat Stone Memorial HS auditorium. The concert theme is Classics & Jazz and will include a wide variety of music styles. Business sponsors for the concert are: Bed & Biscuit Kennel (Season sponsor), State Farm Insurance (David Bell, agent), Caring Touch Therapeutic Massage, and Guest Artist sponsors – Flynn Sign Company, and the City of Crossville.

Special guest artist for this concert will be a 13-year-old trumpet phenom, Geoff Gallante, who hails from Washington, D.C., and has developed a national recognition for his highly advanced technical and musical skills. Geoff has already performed on the Jay Leno show, CBS and NBC national morning news programs, at the White House (and is still the youngest entertainer to perform there), the Lincoln Center, and with military bands and concert bands in 43 states. Geoff has many YouTube videos you can watch showing him performing a variety of styles from sacred, classical, popular, and jazz.

For this concert, Geoff with be playing four selections with the SSSB in accompaniment: “La Virgin de la Macarena,” a fiery Latin piece, “The Debutante,” a classic trumpet selection, “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” a cornet trio, and “Our Love is Here to Stay,” a flugelhorn jazz improvisation solo. Trumpet fans in particular will surely want to come hear Geoff, as he as been compared to a young Doc Severinsen or Wynton Marsalis, and will be a certain entertainment star of the future. His technical skills are unique, but it is his improvisation techique that will also amaze with its maturity beyond his years.

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band is a 30-musician ensemble of 27 brass musicians and three percussionists under the direction of Dr. Steven Sudduth, Director of Bands at Cumberland University in Williamsburg, KY. The musicians are top players from the areas of Nashville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Cookeville and Crossville. They perform a wide variety of music at each concert and to follow the theme of Classic and Jazz, they will be playing the following pieces: “Entry of the Gladiators,” “American Patrol,” “Pittsburgh Overture,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” a euphonium solo, the “Typewriter,” “A Russian Fantasy,” “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, “1st Suite for Band” by Holst, and “Saints Go Marching In.”

Dwight Wages, founder and Artistic Director of the Southern Stars, says, “Our final concert of the season has for the past three years brought in national talent as our guest artists. We had Buddy Greene and Jeff Taylor in 2012, and Pete Huttlinger in 2013—recording artists from Nashville—and now Geoff Gallante, who also has 2 CDs to his credit.”

“While it is a significant expense to provide artists of their stature, we do this with expectations that we will receive larger audiences who appreciate the risk we have taken to bring such unique performers to the Crossville area,” Wages says. “It is my sincere hope that people who may not have heard the Southern Stars before, take this opportunity to hear this outstanding group and to see young Geoff Gallante in action.”

Tickets for the concert are priced at $20 for Adults, and $5 for Students. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Cumberland Eye Care (Dr. Galloway) in Fairfield Glade, First National Bank of TN branches in Fairfield Glade and Crossville, Cumberland County Playhouse box office and website, and Bed & Biscuit Kennel (off Peavine Road). Group tickets of 10 or more can be purchased for $17 ($3 discount) only from Dwight Wages by calling 931-484-6939.

Filed under: Concerts, Jazz on April 9th, 2014 | No Comments »

Video below is of the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band, featuring a Euphonium duet with Brandon Jones and Layne Todd on Herbert L. Clarke’s “Cousins.”

This DVD was professionally recorded at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the campus of Maryville College in Maryville, TN. For information on ordering the DVD, contact Dwight Wages.

Filed under: Marches, Recordings on March 8th, 2014 | No Comments »