The Glenn Miller Orchestra is a band formed after the loss of

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...

, named in memory of him and the original

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

History

After the disappearance of

in 1944, the band was reconstituted under the direction of

Tex Beneke Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. H ...

, 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 over creative differences, hired

Ray McKinley Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910 – May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956. ...

, principal drummer and later leader of the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra, to organize a new "ghost band" in 1956, the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In the 1990s, the GMO was also called the World-Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

contributed to the band's popularity and that of its founder and original members with the 1953 release of '' The Glenn Miller Story'' on the big screen. The band garnered award nominations and box office success, as well as top hit status for its

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

in 1954. The Glenn Miller Orchestra has recorded and performed under various leaders, from 1956 to this day. Clarinetist

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...

succeeded McKinley in 1966. Larry O'Brien served as director of the World-Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1981 to 1983 and from 1988 to 2010. Singer Nick Hilscher became the director of the touring band in 2012, replacing previous director Gary Tole. Saxophonist/Vocalist Erik Stabnau was announced as Music Director in August 2021.

Members

Current as of 2022 * Erik Stabnau – Music Director / Vocalist / Tenor Saxophone * Jenny Swoish – Female Vocalist * Kevin Sheehan – Lead Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Arranger * Gary Meggs – 2nd Alto Saxophone, Clarinet * Allen Cordingley – Tenor Saxophone 1, Clarinet, Flute * Justin Williams – Tenor Saxophone 2, Clarinet, flute * Connor Baba – Baritone Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute * Ashley Hall – Lead Trumpet * Matthew Gates – Split Lead /2nd Trumpet * Joe Young IV – Jazz/3rd Trumpet * Christopher Stein – Trumpet /4th Trumpet * George Reinert III – Lead Trombone * Dave Ashley – 2nd Trombone * Dan Gabel – 3rd Trombone * Michael DeSousa – Bass Trombone, 4th Trombone * Gil Scott Chapman – Piano/Sound Tech * Dean Schweiger – Drums * Charlie Himel – Upright Bass

Discography

Albums

*1983: " In the Digital Mood"

References

American classical music groups American jazz ensembles Big bands Musical groups established in 1956 Swing music 1956 establishments in the United States {{jazz-band-stub