Glenn Miller Orchestra returns to River Raisin Centre for the Arts

A band with more than 90 years of history is coming back to the River Raisin Centre for the Arts, 114 S. Monroe St.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has been touring almost continuously since Miller’s heyday and has visited RRCA in the past. It’s returning to the venue at 7 p.m. Oct. 12. The performance is the first of the 2022-23 season at the RRCA.

The 17-member band, led by New York native Erik Stabnau, is planning a big band concert of Miller’s hits.

“We have a great set list that includes all Glenn Miller’s biggest hits,” Stabnau said. “Half, audience members will recognize, like ‘Moonlight Serenade,’ ‘Chattanooga Choo-Choo,’ ‘In the Mood,’ all his number one hits. Glenn’s biggest hit was ‘In the Mood.’ Some don’t know it by name, but most folks will recognize ‘In the Mood.’ The other half is fun music from the Glenn Miller songbook, music that’s a little lesser-known and new music.”

“Moonlight Serenade” is the band’s theme song.

“It begins and ends every performance,” Stabnau, who also serves as the show’s MC, said.

“I speak between songs and give history and background," he said. "It’s a fascinating history of how the band started in the late 1930s and has been touring non-stop. ’Chattanooga Choo-Choo’ has the unique distinction of having been awarded the first gold record with a million sales in 1942. The whole band got a gold record. It’s a fun piece of history.”

The Glenn Miller Orchestra performs both instrumental pieces and songs with vocals. Stabnau is the band’s male vocalist and also plays tenor saxophone. Jenny Swoish is the female vocalist and has performed on and off with the orchestra for a few years. A group from the band also forms a vocal group.

“The men step up with me and Jenny. Glenn Miller had a vocal group that worked with him,” Stabnau said.

Vocals are part of songs like “Chattanooga” and “I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”

Audiences seem to enjoy the vocal numbers.

“People naturally gravitate toward vocals, and there are plenty of vocals (in the concert). In this era, when Glenn Miller was around, there were more instrumentals. That was a popular genre,” Stabnau said.

Stabnau has been the orchestra’s music director for more than a year, but he’s been a band member for five years.

“I’ve always been in big band. I played the saxophone growing up. I went on the study music in college,” he said. “I already loved this genre of music. One day I found myself auditions for the band,” he said.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has a home office in Orland, Fla., but the bandmates are seldom there. They tour the country on a bus.

“Before the pandemic, we did over 200 shows a year in the U.S. and Canada. We toured year-round, almost non-stop,” Stabnau said. “Now, we’re slowing coming back and getting closer to a full-time schedule. We have 150 shows this year. We’ve played this Monroe show two or three times. We do tour through Michigan and Ohio. We were in Detroit and Cleveland earlier this year,” he said.

All ages enjoy the show.

“We have folks of all ages. It’s skewed older, but new people are finding us. Older folks listened to this music growing up, but their children are always at these concerts because they heard it in the household. There is a big swing dance community among younger folk,” Stabnau said. “Folks who are considering coming to the show should give it a shot. There’s something for everyone, instrumentals, vocals, there’s quite a bit of variety.”

The Glenn Miller Orchestra's RRCA show is sponsored by Durchocher's, Floral City Beverage and Quality Inn and Suites.

All tickets are $35-39. For tickets, visit www.riverraisincentre.org or call the RRCA Box Office at (734) 242-RRCA.

On the Net: https://glennmillerorchestra.com/

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Glenn Miller Orchestra returns to River Raisin Centre for the Arts