Music and Legend Live on in Glenn Miller Orchestra
Johnson County Community College |
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The Glenn Miller Orchestra returns to the Carlsen Center for the Performing arts for an ever-popular performance at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in Yardley Hall, Johnson County Community College.
Under the direction of trombonist Larry O’Brien, musical director, the 19-member band performs original Miller arrangements from both his civilian and military bands. Additionally, they play more modern selections in the big-band style. The entire library now exceeds 1,700 compositions. True to Glenn Miller’s tradition, two vocalists, Julia Rich and Ryan Garfi, are featured.
The legendary Glenn Miller was one of the most successful of all the dance bandleaders back in the swing era of the ’30s and ’40s. Formed in March 1938, the Glenn Miller Orchestra had record-breaking recordings – Tuxedo Junction, In the Mood, String of Pearls, Moonlight Serenade and Pennsylvania 6-5000. In 1941, Miller’s Chattanooga Choo-Choo received the first Gold Record ever awarded. The matchless string of hit records, impact of radio broadcasts and drawing power at theaters, hotels and dance pavilions sustained the orchestra’s popularity.
The Glenn Miller Orchestra had a distinctive musical sound and, like any dance band in the era of the ’40s, its own theme song. The theme of the Glenn Miller Orchestra was the beautiful Moonlight Serenade, which Miller wrote as an exercise for a course in arranging long before he organized his band. It remains the orchestra’s signature tune.
Miller disbanded his orchestra in 1942 at the height of its popularity. He volunteered for the Army and then organized and led the famous Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band to entertain servicemen.
On Dec. 15, 1944, Major Miller took off in an ancient, single-engine plane to precede his band to Paris. The weather was foreboding. Not very confident, he said to the pilot, “Maybe we ought to call this off?” The flight officer ribbed him about his fear of flying, saying “Do you want to live forever?” The plane disappeared and was never found. The Army declared Miller officially dead a year later.
Due to popular demand, the Miller estate authorized the formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956 under the direction of drummer Ray McKinley, who had become the unofficial leader of the Army Air Force Band after Miller’s disappearance; other leaders have followed.The band playing an average of 300 dates a year around the globe to millions of fans. The Glenn Miller orchestra today is still the most sought after big-band in the world, just as it was when Miller was alive.
Glenn Miller Orchestra tickets are $20 and $30, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office at 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.
