Legendary jazz musician and University of Colorado at Boulder alumnus Glenn Miller would have been 100 years old in 2004, and his alma mater is hosting a series of special concerts and events in his honor starting Feb 25.
Featured events in honor of Miller include a free public concert by the CU-Boulder jazz ensemble on March 1. The ensemble will celebrate the late bandleader's birthday on that day in 1904 with a 7:30 p.m. concert in the Grusin Music Hall of the Imig Music Building on the CU-Boulder campus.
Miller, who led the country's most popular swing band in the late 1930s and early 1940s, attended CU-Boulder from 1923 to 1924. He died in 1944 while organizing shows in Europe for American troops fighting in World War II.
Alan Cass, curator of the Miller archive at CU-Boulder, agrees with many historians and fans that Miller is the university's most famous alumnus. "Miller was a true American musical patriot," Cass said. "He gave his life in service of his country. In our opinion, that makes him a very significant American musical hero."
The Glenn Miller Orchestra, which tours internationally, will perform at a gala dinner dance June 5 at CU-Boulder's Glenn Miller Ballroom inside the University Memorial Center. The gala begins at 6 p.m. and tickets are $100 per person. Half of the ticket price is tax-deductible and proceeds will benefit the American Music Research Center's Glenn Miller Archive.
The evening before the Glenn Miller Orchestra gala, the Tamana Girls band, a Japanese group dedicated to Miller's musical legacy, will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom in the UMC. Tickets to the June 4 concert are $10 per person.
The following is a complete chronological listing of Glenn Miller events:
* Feb. 25 - "Glenn Miller's Music and the Swing Era," free public presentation sponsored by CU-Boulder Friends of the Libraries, 7 p.m., in Norlin Library's Center for British and Irish Studies on the fifth floor. Guest lecturer Norman Leyden, Miller's long-time arranger and current associate conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, will speak. Enter the library on the west side and take the elevator.
* Feb. 27 - Free movie screening of "The Glenn Miller Story," complete with free popcorn and candy, 6:30 p.m. in the Imig Music Building's Music Theater.
* March 1 - Free public concert featuring the CU-Boulder jazz ensemble with guest clarinetist Norman Leyden in Grusin Music Hall, inside the Imig Music Building, at 7:30 p.m.
* April 1 - "Music in Wartime," a free public program and discussion presented by the CU Center for Humanities and Arts, 4 p.m. in Norlin Library's Center for British and Irish Studies on the fifth floor. The expert panel will include Glenn E. Watkins, WWII veteran and award-winning musicologist.
* June 4 - The Tamana Girls band, a Japanese group dedicated to Miller's musical legacy, performs at 7:30 p.m. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom in the UMC. Tickets are $10.
* June 5 - Gala dinner dance featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra at the Glenn Miller Ballroom in the UMC, 6 p.m. Tickets are $100.
The public also is invited to visit ongoing Glenn Miller exhibits at Norlin Library and the Imig Music Building. The CU Heritage Center on campus has materials including 29 gold records, Miller's trombones and an original manuscript of his theme song "Moonlight Serenade" available for viewing Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call the Heritage Center at (303) 492-6329 to arrange a tour. Tours of the American Music Research Center's Glenn Miller archive at Macky Auditorium can be arranged by calling (303) 735-1367.
For more information about CU-Boulder's Glenn Miller events visit or call (303) 492-6291.