Performance Riverside tunes up with 'Tribute to the Big Bands'

The Inland Empire's most popular big band conductor, Maestro Richard Stover, and his Big Band All-Stars, transport the audience back to the 1940s in Performance Riverside's Tribute to the Big Bands. This salute to the best music of the Big Band era includes the music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Les Brown and the immortal Glenn Miller. Special guest vocalist and renowned "Girl Singer" Cassie Miller lends her voice to this tribute to all that was best in the music of the Greatest Generation.

Richard Stover, conductor and composer, is one of the founders of Performance Riverside, and has performed with hundreds of stars, from Mel Torme to Bob Hope. He has written, composed, played and conducted more than one hundred and fifty Broadway and family musicals. He is also the owner of Onstage Musicals, which produces and leases original musicals for adults and young people and has had resounding success with both national and international tours.

Singing came naturally to California native Cassie Miller. At the age of three she discovered her vocal talents which were then shaped and appreciated as a soloist in church and school choirs. Cassie then began singing professionally. Her career has taken her around the globe, from doing her own solo tour of jazz clubs overseas to singing with John Lithgow at Carnegie Hall. Cassie feels that her career has been a blessed one with many excitingmoments, but when asked what she considers a career highlight, she replies, "Sharing the stage with the legendary Perry Como and AndyWilliams as a back-up vocalist has been a dream come true." Big Band Swing is her forte and she has been the "girl singer" for many bands, including The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Red & the Red Hots, The Billy Vaughn Orchestra, The Larry Elgart Big Band, and currently The Harry James Orchestra and The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra. Her song styling has brought her wide acclaim from many entertainers including Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Placido Domingo, Jerry Lewis and even President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan.

Tribute to the Big Bands is performed on March 1, 2pm at Landis Performing Arts Center on the Riverside City College Campus. Tickets are $19, $21, $24, and $28. For more information, call the Landis Performing Arts Center Box Office at (951) 222-8100. For online ticketing and more information, visit www.performanceriverside.org.