Capital Brass Entertains at James Sclater Chamber Series

Capital Brass performs at Mississippi College on Oct. 31

Sound the trumpets! Music lovers with a heart for brass instruments are in for a treat this fall at Mississippi College.

The Capital Brass will perform in concert on the Clinton campus October 31 as part of the James S. Sclater Chamber Series.

The six-member brass band from metro Jackson consists of talented musicians from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Their musical tastes range from contemporary to jazz, from Renaissance to Baroque.

“I have heard them many times, and I know that it will be an enjoyable evening of a great variety of music,” says music professor Craig Young, Mississippi College’s director of bands.

The brass group from the Magnolia State dates back to 1982. Their lineup includes Bob Cheesman and Wayne Linehan on trumpets and his wife, Mimi Linehan, playing the horn. Ken Lyons plays trombone, Wade Rackley is featured on tuba and Bud Berthold on percussion rounds out the Capital City Brass.

It marks a return engagement for the Mississippi musicians who played a recital at Mississippi College a few years ago. They are all admirers of James Sclater, the retired MC professor, and will showcase his music at the concert.

“We will do a piece that Dr. Sclater wrote for us,” says Wayne Linehan, an adjunct professor with the MC Department of Music, sponsor of the chamber series named in his honor.

An award-winning composer, Sclater served on the Mississippi College music faculty for 40 years before the Mobile, Alabama native retired in 2010. The longtime Clinton resident continues to perform on the piano and write music. Dr. Sclater is a member of the Brick Street Trio that performs at notable MC events, including the annual spring Scholarship Dinner.

The 7:30 p.m. concert at the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall coincides with Halloween night festivities in cities across America. The conductor of the MC Jazz Ensemble, Linehan says the audience can expect to see a few “musical tricks and treats” on stage on October 31.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Linehan and his wife, Mimi, are residents of Jackson’s Fondren neighborhood. He earned his master’s at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and has taught trumpet classes since the late 1980s at Mississippi College.

To make ticket reservations, call Dottie Serio of the MC Music Department at 601-925-3440 or email music@mc.edu. Tickets for the entire Sclater Series cost $60. The ticket cost is $20 per performance, $5 for students with ID.