A long time ago, in a place far, far away from here a soldier left his home in the Sunnegga-Rothorn Valley in Zermatt, Switzerland, and ended up in the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia, the families that resulted became the lineage of Sunnie Valentine...
Italian Giuseppe working in the instrument repair shop day after day..reviving beautiful horns...wishing for an organ grinder to play his tuba with because he thought pet monkeys might be kind of cute and besides they seemed like a great way to collect tips...
Irishman Patrick Doyle, the name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Ó Dubhghaill, meaning "descendant of Dubhghall". The personal name Dubhghall contains the elements dubh "black" + gall "stranger". Busily working for a shopkeeper, only able to find solace in the melancholy fugues he played in church...
Meet the band
Sunnie Valentine
Vocals, Accordion & Upright Bass
A native of Connecticut, Sunnie Valentine’s first musical performance was accompanying herself on piano while singing Christmas carols for her second grade class. She classically trained in voice and musical performance up through her college school years. In her early twenties, she moved to Kentucky where she learned to play the upright bass and performed regularly at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, a precursor to the Grand Ole Opry. Sunnie became well versed in singing and playing Bluegrass, Folk, Old Time, Roots and German music and toured throughout the Kentucky/ Ohio region. Life then took her to Texas where she learned to play rhythm guitar, and accordion. Now in the Kansas City area, with years of experience in different bands, she is very happy to breathe new life into these songs with the Ellis Islanders.
She can perform in a variety of music styles and genres, fitting the show to whatever is needed --- Cabaret, Music Hall, German, Christmas, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Patriotic, Oktoberfest, etc… Sunnie also develops programs of eclectic acoustic music highlighting a variety of musical genres, Bluegrass, Country, Gospel, Folk, and Singer/songwriter Ballads.
Patrick Doyle
Trumpet
Born/raised near Boston, MA. Started playing piano in kindergarten (hated it), switched to violin (hated it), switched to viola (hated it), switched to trumpet at the end of third grade (didn't hate it). Bachelor of Music from Boston University, Master of Music from Oklahoma City University, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from UMKC. Mostly focused on brass quintet. Played solo cornet in New England Brass Band and Fountain City Brass Band, currently play flugelhorn in Tallgrass Brass Band.
Joseph Felton
Tuba
Joseph Felton has dedicated his life to the pursuit of all things tuba and music. Prior to earning a degree he was principal tuba with the Monterrey Symphony. Upon completing a Master of Music degree he spent two years as instructor of applied instrument studies at University of Central Missouri. For 16 years and counting, Joseph has served in the 35th Infantry Division Band of the Kansas National Guard. As part of his duties he has performed as featured soloist on multiple tours. In addition, he has more than a decade of instrument repair experience and enjoys designing mouthpieces in his spare time. He can be heard on the 2014 Global Award winning album 364 Days by composer Eric Chapman and the album In The Blue with Claire and the Classical Revolution (which won 2nd best 7” single in the 2016 Pitch’s Best of KC awards). In 2016 he performed at the annual TEDxKC. Joseph has cultivated an engaging performance life full of collaborations with talented creative souls. He maintains a private studio with a history of producing students that compete at International competitions, earn college scholarships, and place in All-State ensembles.