SOPAC Will Welcome the Glenn Miller Orchestra

Considered one of the greatest, most sought-after bands of all time, The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, under the direction of vocalist Nick Hilscher, fills SOPAC with the unique jazz sound and swing of the Big Band Era on Friday, November 1 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced from $30-$45, can be purchased at SOPACnow.org/glenn-miller-orchestra.

Legendary bandleader Glenn Miller once said, "A band ought to have a sound all of its own. It ought to have a personality." That statement holds true today, as the 18-member ensemble continues to play many of the original Miller arrangements, along with more modern selections arranged and performed in the Miller style and sound. Just a few of the time-honored numbers from the Great American Songbook in the orchestra's repertoire include "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," "Perfidia," "Moonlight Serenade," "At Last," and "Stardust."

One of the most successful of dance bandleaders back in the Swing Era of the 1930s and '40s, Miller and his musicians produced a matchless string of chart-topping records and popular radio broadcasts, and were a drawing power at theaters, hotels and dance pavilions. Although the first Glenn Miller Orchestra failed, a second band launched in 1938 has been a hit ever since.

The scheduling of the SOPAC concert just prior to Veterans Day calls to mind Miller's heroic service during World War II. A volunteer for the U.S. Army, he organized and led the renowned Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band, which entertained members of the military stationed in Europe. 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. The army declared him officially dead a year later.

With the 1954 release of The Glenn Miller Story, a major motion picture featuring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson, 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 became the unofficial leader of the Army Air Force Band after Miller's disappearance), the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra performed its first concert and is still on the road today.