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| Glenn Miller Orchestra Swings Into Chickasha On April 1 The Glenn Miller Orchestra will swing into Chickasha on April 1 to perform its world famous sound. The 8 p.m. concert is scheduled in Troutt Hall on the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma campus. Tickets are $10 for adults and $2 for students. They are available now at the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce, Chickasha Bank and Trust, the USAO business office or can be purchased at the door. The first Glenn Miller Orchestra, formed in 1937, was a financial failure. In March 1938, Glenn Miller launched his second band - the one that still performs today. Miller originally wrote the music for "Moonlight Serenade" (later to become his theme song) as an exercise for a course in arranging, composed long before he organized his band. At the height of the orchestra's popularity, Glenn Miller disbanded his musical organization in 1942 to volunteer for the army. Not long before he enlisted, he nosed-out Tommy Dorsey as the "Best Sweet Band" in the Downbeat poll. His recordings of "In The Mood," Chattanooga Choo Choo," "A String of Pearls," "Moonlight Serenade" and "Tuxedo Junction" were all major hit records. In 1941, the Glenn Miller Orchestra had more hit records in one year, including "A String of Pearls," than anybody in the history of the recording industry. Although other songs had sold over a million record copies, in 1941 Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" received the first Gold Record ever to be awarded. He then organized the famous Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. On December 15, 1944, Major Glenn Miller took off in a single engine plane from England - against his better judgement - to preceed his band to France, never to be seen again. The army officially declared him dead one year later. Because of popular demand, the Miller Estate authorized the formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956. The orchestra travels over 100,000 miles each year, playing nearly 300 dates. More than 500,000 people annually attend performances of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It has performed in all 50 United States, as well as throughout Europe, Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Guam, the Philippines, South and Central America, and for 32 years in Japan. The entire Glenn Miller Orchestra repertoire now exceeds 1,700 compositions, which keeps the band popular with both young and old. The formation of the present Glenn Miller Orchestra in1956 under the direction of drummer Ray McKinley, who had become the unofficial leader of the Army Air Force Band after Glenn's disappearance. Since then, other leaders have followed Ray including clarinetists Buddy DeFranco and Peanuts Huneko, trombonists Buddy Morrow, Jimmy Henderson and Larry O'Brien, and tenor saxophonist Dick Gerhart. The 19-member band continues to play many of the original Miller arrangements that entertain fans who have not heard them played for awhile. Additionally, it also is playing more modern selections in the big-band style, carefully selecting only those newer tunes that lend themselves naturally to the Miller style and sound. The entire repertoire, which now exceeds 1,700 compositions, keeps the band popular with both young and old. It is the third in the Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts series, named for two long time USAO faculty members. The series was established in 2000 to honor the memory of the two remarkable educators, who together invested more than 80 years in the lives of students at the institution. Davis was a member of the fine arts faculty from 1914 until 1958. Waldorf served on the music faculty from 1932 until 1973. She taught violin privately for more of 70 years, and played in 10 different professional orchestras. A bequest from the estate of Miss Louise Waldorf served as corpus for the series fund, now enhanced by many other benefactors. These include Union Pacific Railroad, Chickasha Bank and Trust, First National Bank, Oklahoma Arts Council, The Jernigan Group, Grady Memorial Hospital, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Brooks, Poag Grain Ag Center, William and Eleanor Miller, Dr. Jim and Carolyn Hall. All revenue after expenses for these three performances will be designated to the Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts Series Endowment Fund to continue the series in perpetuity. As part of the Waldorf bequest, a separate fund was established to provide music scholarships through the
USAO Foundation. The scholarship fund was launched in the fall with a tribute performance by the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra in Waldorf's memory.
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____________________ ABOUT USAO -- Founded in 1908 as the first college created by Oklahoma's first legislature, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma has always been distinctive. Originally a women's college, it was one of only seven state-supported institutions with similar missions ever created in the United States, one of only two west of the Mississippi River. USAO has been continuously accredited by the North Central Association since 1920, one of the longest in Oklahoma. Known for most of its first six decades as the Oklahoma College for Women, it early achieved national distinction for its academic programs and campus life. Today, USAO is ranked as the No. 1 public undergraduate college in the Western United States by "U.S. News and World Report." It was praised as one of "America's 100 Best College Buys" in another publication. For providing students with superior access to technology, USAO was ranked as one of the "100 Most Wired Colleges in America" by Yahoo Internet Life. |
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University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma 1727 West Alabama, Chickasha, Oklahoma USA 73018 Phone: Chickasha: (405) 224-3140 Last Updated 30 Jul 2008 08:24 AM  |