Southern’s School of Music is holding a benefit concert on September 27 to honor Brian Gallaher, one of six fatalities in the massive I-75 pileup near Ooltewah on June 25 that was the deadliest Chattanooga area traffic incident of the past 10 years.

Gallaher was an Ocoee Middle School band director who would often perform with Southern’s Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra. Ken Parsons, associate professor in the School of Music, remembers him as “an excellent trumpet player” and “a wonderful teacher who was very much loved.”

Following the accident, Parsons and Scott Ball, dean for the School of Music, began discussions on the best way to honor their friend. In the end, they decided that a benefit concert was a fitting tribute and should generate more money for Gallaher’s wife and kids than out-of-pocket donations alone. The School of Music is matching proceeds from ticket sales, and an anonymous donor has agreed to do the same.

For the concert, Southern’s Jazz Ensemble will pull tunes from past years, as well as songs Gallaher played with his middle school band. Southern will also be bringing in Nathan Warner, a trumpet professor from Lee University where Gallaher graduated, to participate in the performance.

The benefit concert for Gallaher’s family takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, in Southern’s Ackerman Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and available on site beginning at 6 p.m. For more information, call 423.236.2886.