If you go
› What: “Big Band Fever” with the CSO Swing Band.› When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13.› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› Admission: $21 to $81.› Phone: 423-267-8583.› Website: www.chattanoogasymphony.org.
A trumpeter known for virtuosic skills, not to mention "a contagious smile and captivating charm," will take the stage with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera this weekend in two performances of "Big Band Fever."
Byron Stripling will join conductor Bob Bernhardt and the CSO Swing Band for this Pops series concert, which promises "a night of electrifying energy and superb music-making with the best from the swing era."
The Tivoli Theatre stage will be open for couples to dance the night away to tunes such as "In the Mood," "String of Pearls" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo."
An Atlanta native, Stripling serves as artistic director of the Columbus (Ohio) Jazz Orchestra, leads his own quartet and is in constant demand to play with pops orchestras around the world. He has soloed with Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony and the American Jazz Philharmonic.
Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra, under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He also has played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson and Buck Clayton, as well as the Lincoln Center Classical Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the GRP All Star Big Band.
Also an accomplished actor and singer, Stripling was chosen after a worldwide search to star in the lead role of the Broadway-bound musical "Satchmo." He also had a featured cameo in the television movie "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" and a critically acclaimed performance in the 42nd Street production of "From Second Avenue to Broadway."