The Legendary Big Band 1940's comes to Orange

Orange is set to host the return of the greatest big band of the 1940's, the world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra. Featuring 24 musicians, along with singers and dancers, the Glenn Miller Orchestra will take you on a sentimental journey down memory lane to the Golden Age of Swing.

Glenn Miller’s musical arrangements are immediately identifiable and even after 82 years they have wide popular appeal.

Speaking to Orange City Life from his home in the Unites States, Glenn Miller Musical Director and Glenn Miller historian, Rick Gerber, likens the longevity of Glenn Miller’s music to the classical greats.

“Some of that music goes back more than 250 years, but in every university level music department they are still studying and performing the music of Bach and Mozart and Beethoven and so forth … in great concert halls and theatres they are performing the great classics and operas that were written 150 years ago… and so new generations are discovering some of the sounds of the big band music and in particular in the Glenn Miller Band,” said Mr Gerber, who was drawn to the big band sound from a very early age.

“I took an interest in all the sounds of the big bands even though that was not my generation, I was about a good generation out of sync, but I liked Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and especially Glenn Miller… I just have always loved the music.”

And he is not alone: timeless hits such as Chattanooga Choo-Choo, In the Mood, Tuxedo Junction, A String of Pearls, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000 have captivated millions of people around the world.

Performing in Orange on Wednesday, 18 September, The Glenn Miller Orchestra will deliver a colourful and flamboyant evening filled with fun and nostalgia of the 30s and 40s, said Mr Gerber.

“We focus a lot of the program on Glenn Miller’s biggest, best known hits that are most familiar with the public but I do mix in some other lesser known tunes but nevertheless authentic arrangements from the Glenn Miller library,” he said

“And we play some more contemporary songs from the modern era arranged and adapted in the Glenn Miller style —like a Frank Sinatra tune, Michael Bublé tune, Natalie Cole and so forth.”

If you have never heard the sound of a big band live, The Glenn Miller Orchestra is an experience you do not want to miss.

“At almost every show a lot of young people say, ‘Wow, this is great stuff!’” said Mr Gerber. “Previously, all they'd ever heard was very mouldy sounding old record, recorded with 1939 or 1940 audio techniques, but when they hear the band playing the same music live, It is exciting!”

Catch the Glenn Miller Orchestra at Orange Civic Theatre, 18 September 7.30pm. Tickets at www.Ticketek.com.au