The Ensemble
Formed in March 2013, the State Line Wind Symphony is comprised of community members, band directors, college students, and other music professionals. The State Line Wind Symphony aims to bring together those who love to play music and to perform for those who love to listen.
The ensemble was formed as a joint effort between Scott Lambert and Mark Collins, lifelong music educators, after much prodding from former students, colleagues, and other musicians. With each rehearsal, the band has grown in membership resulting in a fully instrumentated wind symphony of over ninety members with a membership of over one hundred and fifteen.
The philosophy of the State Line Wind Symphony is simple: play and have fun doing it! No membership criteria are required from the members other than they must be over eighteen years of age, eager to play music and actively participate in the rehearsals and concerts.
The premiere performance was held at The Paramount in May 2013. No admission is charged at the SLWS concerts with hopes of serving the area citizens with good symphonic music to enjoy at no cost. Contributions will be gladly accepted to offset performance venue expenses.
The Washington County Virginia Public Schools and John S. Battle High School have graciously supported the State Line Wind Symphony’s service to the community through providing rehearsal facilities and logistical support.
Donations
Donations to help support our ensemble and its wonderful musicians are greatly appreciated. Members nor directors are paid for their time. Donations help cover music, office, and venue expenses incurred throughout the year.
Donations may be mailed to:
State Line Wind Symphony
P.O. Box 2542
Abingdon, VA 24212
The Directors
Scott Lambert
Scott Lambert retired in 2005 after teaching for thirty-one years in the public schools of Virginia and South Carolina. Lambert is in his forty-ninth year as a music educator. Lambert was band director at John S. Battle H.S., Fort Mill H.S., Amherst County H.S., Lee-Davis H.S. and Deep Creek H.S. He served on the part-time faculties of the University of South Carolina, Winthrop University, Virginia Commonwealth University and retired from James Madison University after serving six and one-half years as Supervisor of Music Education. Scott Lambert is the co-director and co-founder of the State Line Wind Symphony. Established in the spring of 2013, the State Line Wind Symphony is now one of the largest community performance ensembles in the Upper East Tennessee/Southwest Virginia area with over two hundred members on its roll ranging in ages from eighteen to over eighty-eight years old and averaging seventy to ninety performers at each concert.
Mr. Lambert graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University and received his Master of Music Education with honors from Radford University. He has done post graduate work at Wake Forest University, East Tennessee State University, Virginia Tech and served as graduate teaching associate and director of the University Band at the University of South Carolina, where he completed his residency and candidacy towards a Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting.
Lambert’s bands received seventeen Virginia Honor Band Awards and over four hundred and fifty awards in marching, concert and jazz during his teaching career. His bands received over sixty superior ratings at District Concert Assessment and performed for the National Band Association Convention. His bands also performed twice for the Virginia Music Educators Conference and the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 1989. His marching bands performed for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Niagara Falls Blossom Festival Parade, Cotton Bowl Parade, two Tournament of Roses Parades, Orange Bowl Parade and Mardi Gras Parade. Lambert’s marching bands won state championships multiple times in both Virginia and South Carolina and were two time division champions in the Bands of America Southeast Regionals and were finalists in the Bands of America National Championship.
Lambert has guest conducted “Pershing’s Own”, the United States Army Band, Washington, DC and the United States Pacific Fleet Marine Band, Honolulu, Hawaii. The Pacific Fleet Marine Band’s tattoo drill for their 2012 Southeast Asia tour was written and produced by Lambert and performed in New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China. He has worked with jazz greats Dominic Spera and Wynton Marsalis. Well-known composers John Edmondson, Alfred Reed and John Zdechlick have conducted Lambert’s bands.
Lambert is a multiple recipient of the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence, received the American School Band Directors Association’s Stanbury Award as the 1980 Outstanding Young Band Director for Virginia, awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Legion of Honor, selected as one of the Ten Best Band Directors for 1991 by Bandworld Magazine, selected twice to Outstanding Young Men of America, listed three times in Who’s Who in America, listed six times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, listed twice in Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the World, the International Who’s Who of Professionals and nominated for the Disney American Teacher Award.
Scott Lambert has served on the board of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and is past president of the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA), past president of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA), past president of the Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Mu and an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
The Virginia Music Educators Association selected Lambert as the 2004-05 Outstanding Virginia Music Educator and continues to serve on the executive boards of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association and the Virginia Music Educators Association. Lambert was inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Honorary Band Director Fraternity Hall of Fame, Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association Hall of Fame and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Virginia Music Educators Association.
Lambert continues to have an active schedule of concert and marching adjudication, writing marching band drill, arranging and composing for concert and marching bands, and has a very successful brass studio. Lambert is active as a clinician, adjudicator, arranger and show designer for school bands, military bands and honor bands across the United States. Lambert has one daughter, Erica Eaton, an accomplished bassoonist and color guard instructor who is also a successful middle school band director in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Lambert is happily married to his wife, Tammy and lives in Washington County, Virginia just outside Bristol with their dog, “Willie Nelson”.
Mark Collins
Mark Collins is currently serving in his twenty-second year as Director of Bands at John S. Battle High School in Bristol, Virginia. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Tennessee Tech University in 1986, a Master of Education degree in Education with a minor in music from Milligan College in May of 2007 and an Education Specialist degree in administration 2009 from Lincoln Memorial University. While at Tennessee Tech, Mr. Collins studied percussion with the late Joseph Rasmussen and composition with Robert Jager. In addition, he studied composition privately with Aaron Copland.
Mr. Collins has worked in public education for 27 years. In addition to his work in the public school setting, he worked for Vanderbilt University Marching Band as an adjunct faculty percussion coordinator and is currently the adjunct coordinator of percussion studies at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. He has also served as a consultant to colleges as a curriculum design specialist for music education program development. In addition, he is active as a researcher in music education and has presented his research findings on “The Music Effect on Students at the Collegiate Level” at the 2006 Southern Regional Research Conference.
Immediately following graduation, he served as band director at Hillwood High School, Hume-Fogg Magnet High School and McGavock High School of the Metro-Nashville school system in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Nashville, Mr. Collins’ ensembles consistently received superior ratings in sight-reading and on-stage performances at state concert festivals. On the marching field, his students achieved national recognition winning Grand Championships at the Bands of America Southern Regional Competition and placing 10th at the BOA National Competition. While at McGavock, the marching band was named Tennessee State Champions and Reserve Grand Champion at the prestigious Contest of Champions at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and appeared in the 1990 National Toyota Television Campaign.
At John Battle High School, Mr. Collins’s concert bands have received superior ratings 20 years in sight-reading and on-stage performance at state concert festivals. This achievement has qualified them as a Virginia Honor Band on multiple occasions. On the marching field, the Battle band has won 19 Grand Championships and over 200 Caption Awards and consistently places over 60 students in the Virginia Band Association Regional Honor Band Events.
The John S. Battle High School Band and Wallace Middle School Bands have established a national reputation of musical achievement and accomplishment. During the band’s history they have performed at the Virginia Music Educators Conference (2008), two concert tours of Hawaii that included performances at the Arizona Memorial and USS Bowfin Memorial, the National Middle School Conference and the Virginia Middle School conference.
His students have earned coveted spots in the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band (2011, 2013) and the 2012 Macy’s Great American Honor Marching Band. In addition, the band has performed in the United Nations Building Grand Hall in New York City, the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Martin Luther King Memorial Park, Chicago Concert Band Invitational, and the Star-Spangled Banner at a Baltimore Orioles baseball game and at a New Jersey Devils hockey game. In addition, they have performed at numerous national concert festivals where they received superior ratings. His concert groups have performed with U.S. Navy Band (ret.) principal saxophonist, Dale Underwood, and the Battle Percussion Ensemble has performed with legendary jazz drummer Joe Morrello and the renowned She-e Wu.
Mr. Collins is very active in his field as he has performed with multiple artists and as a percussionist in the Symphony of the Mountains. He is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, music arranger and guest lecturer. His passion for educating the next generation of music educators led him to start Innovative Band Camps – a company dedicated to providing leadership and music fundamental workshops to teachers and students in rural communities.
He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Music Educators’ National Conference, Virginia Music Educators Association, National Band Association, Percussive Arts Society, National Education Association, Virginia Education Association, and Washington County Education Association. He was awarded the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award (2013) and was a 2013 Grammy Nominated Educator. He has been recognized two times in the WHO’S WHO AMONG AMERICA’S TEACHERS and once as a WHO’S WHO WORLDWIDE REGISTRY of BUSINESS LEADERS. He has served as a clinician and adjudicator in Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky. He is happily married and has two sons.
Master of Ceremonies
Steve Hawkins
Steve Hawkins has worked in media in the Tri-Cities for almost 40 years, the first 35 at WCYB-TV, where he served as News Director and 6pm News Co-Anchor. Several years ago, he moved to SuperTalk 92.9 where he hosted the popular Steve Hawkins Show weekday mornings.
Currently, Steve is employed with Alpha Natural Resources as Director of Media Relations. He has also taught media at East Tennessee State University for more than 25 years and co-wrote a news writing and reporting textbook that has been used by 40 colleges and universities in 20 states. He and Tracey have been married for 32 years and their daughter Jennifer performs with the State Line Wind Symphony as a percussionist.