The return of everyone’s favorite Big Band….The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, June 22nd!

The first Glenn Miller Orchestra did not make it at all. It was a total and absolute economic failure. But Glenn knew what he wanted, held to that dedication and relentlessly worked to succeed. He launched his second band – the one that lives on today – in March of 1938. The Glenn Miller Orchestra has been a “hit” ever since. 

The legendary Glenn Miller was one of the most successful of all dance bandleaders back in the Swing Era of the 1930’s and 40’s. A matchless string of hit records, the constant impact of radio broadcasts and the drawing power at theatres, hotels and dance pavilion, built and sustained the momentum of popularity. 

Glenn disbanded his musical organization in 1942 at the height of its popularity to volunteer for the Army. There, he organized and led the famous Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band . It went to Europe to entertain servicemen performing numerous live and radio shows. On December 15, 1944, Major Miller took off in a single engine plane from Europe to precede his band to France, disappearing over the English Channel, never to be seen again. The army declared him officially dead a year later. 

With the release of the major motion movie The Glenn Miller Story featuring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson in 1954, interest and popular demand led the Miller Estate to authorize the formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra. On June 6, 1956, and under the direction of drummer Ray McKinley who had become the unofficial leader of the Army Air Force Band after Glenn’s disappearance, the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra performed its first concert and has been on the road ever since. Other leaders have followed Ray including clarinetists Buddy DeFranco and Peanuts Hucko, trombonists Buddy Morrow, Jimmy Henderson, Larry O’Brien and Gary Tole, and tenor saxophonist Dick Gerhart. Since January 2012, vocalist Nick Hilscher leads the band. 

Today, the 18 member ensemble continues to play many of the original Miller arrangements both from the civilian band and the AAFB libraries. Additionally, it also plays some more modern selections arranged and performed in the Miller style and sound. 

Just as it was in Glenn’s day, the Glenn Miller Orchestra today is still the most sought after big band in the world.

Some Notes of Interest:

The Glenn Miller Orchestra is owned and operated by Glenn Miller Productions, Inc., under license from the Miller Estate. Glenn Miller Productions, Inc., has the sole and exclusive right to use the Glenn Miller Orchestra name. 

The Glenn Miller Orchestra is a fully self-contained group consisting of the music director, five saxophone players, four trumpeters, four trombonists, and three rhythm musicians (piano, bass and drums). Also, there are two vocalists, one male and one female, who perform individually and as part of The Moonlight Serenaders® vocal group. 

The big-band business today requires almost constant travel as a result of an arduous schedule of one-night stands. The Glenn Miller Orchestra is “on the road” longer and more continuously than any other in the whole world, having celebrated its 65th year anniversary on June 6, 2021. It covers over a hundred thousand miles a year, working most every night for 48 weeks out of every 52-nearly 300 playing dates, performing for an “in person” audience that adds up to more than a half million people annually. 

The orchestra has performed in all 50 United States, as well as throughout Europe, Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Guam, the Philippines, South and Central America. Additionally, the orchestra has toured Japan annually since 1964. 

The “Road Book” carried by the Glenn Miller Orchestra adds up to over 300 charts-many of them out of the original library. Today, the complete library totals over 1,700 compositions including all of the original charts from both the civilian band and the Army Air Force Band. 

Of course, all of the biggest hits are included in a regular program. But so are arrangements of less well-known tunes like The White Cliffs of Dover, Rainbow Rhapsody, Everybody Loves My Baby, and That’s Sabotage. The Miller library features contributions from many fine arrangers including Bill Finegan, Jerry Gray, Billy May, Mort Lindsay, Deane Kinkaide, Joe Cribari, and Dave Wolpe. They have added such numbers as Over the Rainbow, September Morn, The Body Electric from the T.V. series Fame, Up Where We Belong, from the hit movie, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Star Wars/War of The Stars. 

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has always been very musical, disciplined, and visually entertaining. And it has its own distinctive “sound." 

That sound is created by the clarinet holding the melodic line, doubled or coupled with the tenor sax playing the same notes; and the harmonies produced by three other saxophones, while growling trombones and wailing trumpets add their oo-ahs.

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra made a big impact right before and during the war. And it had more hit records in one year than anybody in the history of the recording industry. In fact, its recording of Chattanooga Choo-Choo earned the first Gold Record ever awarded to a performing artist. Additional Gold Record recordings include “In the Digital Mood” and “In The Christmas Mood,” Volume I & II. 

Back in the days of the big band era of the forties, any dance band “worth its salt” had a distinctive theme song. It was the musical signature with which they signed on and signed off at their engagements and radio broadcasts. The theme of Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was the beautiful Moonlight Serenade, and it is still the signature tune of the Glenn Miller Orchestra today. Interestingly enough, Glenn Miller originally wrote the music of the song himself as an exercise for a course in arranging. He composed it long before he organized his band, when he was a trombonist and arranger with Ray Noble’s famous band. 

Today, it is considered a standard in the field of popular music with its popularity as an instrumental continuing undiminished through the years. 

It is now more than 80 years since Glenn Miller first succeeded with the Orchestra, which still bears his name to this day. Except for a few years following his disappearance, Glenn’s orchestra and music have been heard around the world continuously since 1938.

ERIK STABNAU - Music Director / Saxophonist 

Tenor saxophonist Erik Stabnau brings his lifelong enthusiasm for big band music to each performance of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Having grown up with a love for the music of the swing era, Erik naturally gravitated toward Glenn Miller, drawn to his recognizable melodies and the distinctive sound of his reed section.

A Western New York native, Erik learned to play the saxophone, flute, and clarinet in a variety of disciplines before developing an interest in the large ensembles of Ellington, Basie, Dorsey, Miller and others. Excited to pursue a future in music, he attended college at the Eastman School of Music in his hometown of Rochester, earning a bachelor's of music in Jazz and Contemporary Media. Intent on broadening his education, Erik went on to study music business and recording with a masters degree in Audio Arts from Syracuse University.

Reserved seat tickets:
First four rows (A-D).................……...….....$25
Remainder of floor and balcony......…..$22.50
Balcony box (includes concessions)...$45

Note: Doors open at 6:20 pm….showtime 7:00 pm!