Home > MUSIC > The Glenn Miller Orchestra

• Tweet
• Outlook
• ICAL
• PRINT
• Email
• Feedback

• RSS

• Official Website

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Presented by State Theatre (State College, PA) at State Theatre (State College, PA)

October 23, 2011

Comment on Facebook

The World Famous, Glenn Miller Orchestra, is the most popular and sought after big band in the world today for both concert and swing dance engagements. With its unique jazz sound, the Glenn Miller Orchestra is considered to be one of the greatest bands of all time. The present Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1956 and has been touring consistently, playing an average of 300 live dates a year all around the world. As of January 2011, trombonist Gary Tole is the orchestra's musical director. The Glenn Miller Orchestra was originally formed in 1937 by Glenn Miller. It was arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, while three other saxophones played the harmony. After the disappearance (and presumed death) of Miller in 1944, the band was reconstituted under the direction of Tex Beneke, its lead tenor saxophonist, singer and one of Miller's longtime close friends. A few years later, the Miller estate, having parted ways with Beneke, hired Ray McKinley, principal drummer in Miller's Army Air Force band, to organize a new "ghost band" in 1956. Hollywood contributed to the band's immortality and that of its founder and original members with the 1953 release of The Glenn Miller Story on the big screen. Its popularity garnered award nominations and box office success, as well as top hit status for its soundtrack album in 1954. The Glenn Miller Orchestra continues to record and perform under various leaders but upholds the traditional foundations of the bands formation under Glenn Miller.