Glenn Miller Big Band music

MUSKEGON, MI – The legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra is coming to Muskegon.

Formed by Alton Glenn Miller in 1938, the band produced a string of hit records throughout the 1940s and beyond. Appearances on radio and in theaters, hotels and dance pavilions throughout the United States helped to build and sustain the band's popularity.

The current 19-member band plays many of Miller's original arrangements under the direction of Nick Hilscher. Its Muskegon performance is scheduled to take place at the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20.

"I've been listening to Glenn Miller and his orchestra play the hits, " Hilscher, who joined the orchestra as a singer in 1998 said. "Man, that band could swing. No wonder it hit me like a ton of bricks, knocked me out and changed my life when I was 11. I'd never heard anything like that kind of music. It hit me at the deepest level a kid at that age could get hit."

The orchestra will perform several arrangements at the Muskegon concert including: "Little Brown Jug, " "Serenade in Blue, " "A String of Pearls, " "Chattanooga Choo Choo, " "Tuxedo Junction, " "In The Mood, " "Rhapsody in Blue, " "Sun Valley Jump, " "Moonlight Serenade, " "St. Louis Blues March, " "Danny Boy, " "Stardust, " "I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo, " "Juke Box Saturday Night, " "Perfidia, " Bugle Call Rag" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree."

Modern selections in classic big band style will also be performed. The band has more than 1, 700 compositions in its repertoire, according to the news release.