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PITTSBURG —
Legendary jazz musician Glenn Miller vanished while flying across the English Channel Dec. 15, 1944, on his way to entertain U.S. troops in France.
His music, however, is alive and well, drawing in new generations of fans. One of them is Nick Hilscher, who just became music director for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which will present a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“We average 48 weeks a year on the road,” Hilscher said in a recent telephone interview from Florida. “It’s a long trek, but we take little breaks of a week or 10 days now and then.”
A 2000 graduate of Samford University with a bachelor of music in piano performance, Hilscher said that he discovered Glenn Miller when he was about 11.
“I had seen the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with James Stewart, and he kind of reminded me of my grandfather,” he said. “I started watching other movies with him, and one of them was ‘The Glenn Miller Story’. I just fell in love with the music.”
The Atlanta, Ga., native began searching out Glenn Miller music at record stores, and then found Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra as well.
“I always knew I wanted to do music of some sort, and this was it,” Hilscher said. “I enrolled in college as a piano major in 1995, but three years in I sent a demo tape to the Glenn Miller Orchestra and they hired me.”
He was the featured male vocalist with the orchestra for one year, returned to college to finish his degree, then went back to singing with the orchestra until February 2005. He was featured in several albums with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, “On the Air” in 2002 and “Steppin’ Out” in 2005.
For a time he performed solo and also sang with other bands. In 2005 Hilscher was featured vocalist for a 100th birthday celebration of Tommy Dorsey with the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and the same year was featured vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra on a cruise celebrating Dorsey’s 100th birthday.
Hilscher became acquainted with Buddy Morrow, longtime director of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, who became a mentor to the young singer.
“Before Buddy Morrow died at 91 he asked me if I would lead the orchestra,” Hilscher said. “I was director of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from January 2011 through December 2011, and started as director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra a week and a half ago.”
Legendary jazz musician Glenn Miller vanished while flying across the English Channel Dec. 15, 1944, on his way to entertain U.S. troops in France.
His music, however, is alive and well, drawing in new generations of fans. One of them is Nick Hilscher, who just became music director for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which will present a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“We average 48 weeks a year on the road,” Hilscher said in a recent telephone interview from Florida. “It’s a long trek, but we take little breaks of a week or 10 days now and then.”
A 2000 graduate of Samford University with a bachelor of music in piano performance, Hilscher said that he discovered Glenn Miller when he was about 11.
“I had seen the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with James Stewart, and he kind of reminded me of my grandfather,” he said. “I started watching other movies with him, and one of them was ‘The Glenn Miller Story’. I just fell in love with the music.”
The Atlanta, Ga., native began searching out Glenn Miller music at record stores, and then found Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra as well.
“I always knew I wanted to do music of some sort, and this was it,” Hilscher said. “I enrolled in college as a piano major in 1995, but three years in I sent a demo tape to the Glenn Miller Orchestra and they hired me.”
He was the featured male vocalist with the orchestra for one year, returned to college to finish his degree, then went back to singing with the orchestra until February 2005. He was featured in several albums with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, “On the Air” in 2002 and “Steppin’ Out” in 2005.
For a time he performed solo and also sang with other bands. In 2005 Hilscher was featured vocalist for a 100th birthday celebration of Tommy Dorsey with the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and the same year was featured vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra on a cruise celebrating Dorsey’s 100th birthday.
Hilscher became acquainted with Buddy Morrow, longtime director of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, who became a mentor to the young singer.
“Before Buddy Morrow died at 91 he asked me if I would lead the orchestra,” Hilscher said. “I was director of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from January 2011 through December 2011, and started as director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra a week and a half ago.”
He said that more than half of the musicians in the band are in their 20s or early 30s.
“A good number of them have the same story that I have,” Hilscher said. “They became fascinated with this music when they were in middle school or high school.”
He said that audiences at orchestra performances seem to be getting younger.
“When I first started, we had a lot of the World War II generation attending, and a lot of them still do, but now we’re also getting more baby boomers,” Hilscher said. “I’m the one who got my parents into this music. They grew up with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.”
He said that performances always include some of Miller’s most popular songs, including “In the Mood,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Little Brown Jug” and “String of Pearls.”
“We don’t do just Glenn Miller music,” Hilscher added. “We’ll also do one or two Frank Sinatra songs.”
Show tickets will be $15 for seats on the main floor and main balcony, and $10 for the rest of the balcony.
Preceding the show will be a noon luncheon provided by Ultimate Choice Catering. Jeff Wilbert, Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium director, said that the menu will feature stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with bacon and slivered almonds, house salad, hot rolls and cherry cheesecake. Lunch tickets will be an additional $15.
“Our hope is that people will leave church, come over and eat, then enjoy the show,” Wilbert said. “I would encourage those wishing to purchase luncheon tickets not to wait to the last minute because we are limited to the number of seats available. We’ll be seating eight to a table, so those wishing to reserve an entire table for their group should let us know when they’re ordering tickets.”
Those who prefer can just purchase show tickets. Tickets are available at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium, by calling 231-7827 or online.
“We decided that a 2 p.m. matinee would be good because it allows those who prefer not to drive at night to get back home before dark,” Wilbert said. “Also, it will allow those traveling from out of town to get back home at a reasonable time.”
Those who do hang around the auditorium for a while after the show will have an opportunity to purchase Glenn Miller Orchestra CDs.
“I’ll probably come out to the lobby myself, and really look forward to meeting our Pittsburg audience,” Hilscher said.
