The Glenn Miller Orchestra brings the Big Band sound of the 1930s and 1940s to the Community Concert Hall on Thursday, April 14 at Fort Lewis College. Curtain is 7:30 p.m.
The Glenn Miller Orchestra is considered one of the most popular and sought-after Big Bands in the world today. Offering a unique jazz sound, the 18-member band under the direction of leader Nick Hilscher performs many of the original Miller arrangements, as well as new selections in the Big Band style.
The legendary Glenn Miller was one of the most successful of all dance bandleaders back in the Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He disbanded his musical organization in 1942 to volunteer for the army, where he organized and led the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band to entertain the servicemen. On Dec. 15, 1944, Major Miller took off in a single engine plane from England to precede his band to France, disappearing over the English Channel. The army declared him officially dead a year later.
With the release of the movie The Glenn Miller Story in 1954, interest and popular demand led the Miller Estate to authorize the formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra. On June 6, 1956, the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra performed its first concert and has been on the road ever since.
Current bandleader Hilscher is a veteran of the American Songbook and has an accomplished career as a solo artist and lead male vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He was selected as bandleader in 2012.
Back in the day, a big band had a distinctive theme song. The theme of Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was "Moonlight Serenade," and the classic song remains the signature tune of the Glenn Miller Orchestra today.
Wrote the Watauga Democrat, ".The best, though, was the music. There was not a synthesizer or an electrical instrument to be found. The sound of those brass horns, accompanied by a flawless rhythm section, and talented vocalists, all produced their own electricity. All you heard was true class and talent."
Two days following the Concert Hall show, Glenn Miller will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at CU Boulder.
View a variety of The Glenn Miller Orchestra performances at http://glennmillerorchestra.com/videos.
Tickets for The Glenn Miller Orchestra are $24 and $34 and are available by calling 247-7657, on the web at www.durangoconcerts.com, or visit the ticket office inside the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue in downtown Durango.
