The Richmond Symphony Celebrates New Orleans Jazz with the Dukes of Dixieland and the No B.S. Brass Band Tonight

Join the Richmond Symphony and DUKES of Dixieland for an evening of New Orleans Jazz under the direction of Music Director, Steven Smith tonight, January 31 at 8:00 p.m. at the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage. Opening the concert will be local favorite No B.S. Brass Band in their debut with a symphony orchestra.

The DUKES of Dixieland bring traditional jazz and Dixieland into the 21st Century by combining the sounds of New Orleans with the elements of pop, gospel and country. Their style of music ranges from Dr. John and Fats Domino, to Huey Smith and Louis Prima, mixed with their own original tunes. In the Summer of 1975, the DUKES were invited to play with the Grant Park Pops Orchestra in Chicago. The combination of the band plus the pops orchestra was a hit and they've been performing with symphonies and orchestras ever since.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, No B.S. Brass Band embraces the spirit of New Orleans into its original East Coast modern funk. With a reputation as one of Richmond's most loved bands, the 11-piece band fearlessly combines music elements from James Brown, John Coltrane, Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin creating a high-energy, heart-pounding sound.

Tickets start at $10 online at richmondsymphony.com or 1.800.514 ETIX. College student tickets are $7 at the Richmond CenterStage box office with valid student ID.

The Pops Series is sponsored by Genworth.

About the DUKES of Dixieland

It was the summer of 1975, and New Orleans' Own DUKES of Dixieland were invited to play with the Grant Park Pops Orchestra in Chicago. The idea of a Dixieland band playing with a symphonic orchestra was intriguing to both the DUKES and the orchestra. Henry Brandon, the conductor, wrote several charts for the band + pops orchestra combination, and the combination sizzled. The DUKES have been performing with symphonies and orchestras ever since. And following each concert, letters arrive exclaiming that the event was a first, with the audience on its feet and second-lining with the DUKES. Today the band has huge shipping boxes of musical scores for band and orchestra, boxes which are sent out to orchestras in advance so that all the musicians can come together "on the same page." (Henry Brandon, by the way, is well known for writing the music for the Oscar Mayer jingle!)

DUKES of Dixieland

About Steven Smith

This season, Steven Smith marks his fifth season as Music Director of the Richmond Symphony and his fourth season in the Lewis T. Booker Music Director Chair. He continues as Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony and in 2013 completed a 14-year tenure as Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus.

From 1997 to 2003, Steven Smith served as the Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which performed by invitation at Carnegie Hall. From 2002-05, he was associate professor at Oberlin Conservatory, leading both orchestral and opera performances.

Steven Smith has been delighted to collaborate with the Richmond Ballet and Virginia Opera and has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras such as the San Francisco, Houston and Puerto Rico symphonies, and abroad in Mexico, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Taiwan.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven Smith earned Master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is the recipient of the CIM Alumni Association 1999 Alumni Achievement Award and the Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation's Conductor Career Development Grant. He was named Ohio Composer of the Year for 2008.

About the Richmond Symphony

Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 200 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 250,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo Courtesy of the Richmond Symphony