Local musicians to perform

STERLING – There was no hush that fell over the band members, no dimming of the lights, or a tapping of a baton on a podium, as they prepared to play.

The five friends finished their jokes and chatter, and started to perform, while the first notes of a Dixieland song jumped from the brass instruments.

The five members of Sterling Brass will share some of their unique sound at 7 p.m. Wednesday with a free concert at Centennial Auditorium in Sterling High School, 1608 Fourth Ave. The concert is open to the public.

The group formed about two and a half years ago, with all of the members knowing each other through the symphony band and the Rock River Jazz Band. The quintet is made up of Ryan Neumann, Mark Bressler, Aaron White, Jon P. James, and Kevin O’Keefe.

Neumann, the quintet’s trombonist, works at Creative Kitchens & Bath in Sterling.

Bressler, the group’s tuba player and a music teacher at West Carroll Intermediate School in Thomson, reflected on the quintet’s humble beginnings.

“Our first performance was when someone won a one-hour performance for a benefit,” Bressler said.

Since then, the quintet has performed for some private events, and they usually practice together every other Sunday at the Sterling High band room.

White is the quintet’s principal trumpeter, and a former music teacher in the Chadwick-Milledgeville School District who now works for the Wal-Mart Distribution Center as an inventory loader while pursuing his post-graduate degree.

James, director of the Sterling Municipal Symphony Band and director of bands for the Polo School District, is the quintet’s other trumpeter. He also is the principal trumpeter with the Dixon Municipal Band, and co-founder and director of the Rock River Jazz Band.

O’Keefe, director of bands and music teacher at Montmorency Grade School, Rock Falls, plays a French horn with the quintet. He also performs with the Dixon Municipal Band, Rock River Jazz Band, Clinton Symphony Orchestra, and the Sauk Valley Community College Band.

For more information, go to www.sterling-brass.com on the Internet, or call 815-441-7635 to reserve the band for an event.