Contact: Public Relations
(863) 680-4118

The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
performs at Florida Southern College

LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 25, 2002) - Florida Southern's Festival of Fine Arts welcomes the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra to Branscomb Auditorium March 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Led by veteran trombonist Buddy Morrow, the orchestra presents music from the big-band era of the 1930s and 40s. The 17-piece ensemble plays about 275 performances a year, traveling in their own bus. The original band started when Tommy Dorsey and his brother Jimmy formed The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in the early 1930s. Some of the early members included Glenn Miller and Bob Crosby. The brothers split, and Tommy formed his own band, featuring many talented and popular musicians and singers, including Buddy Rich and Frank Sinatra. The brothers reunited in 1953 and garnered national publicity through their own television program, "Stage Show." After Tommy's death in 1956, trombonist Warren Covington organized a new Tommy Dorsey band and toured throughout the United States. Morrow took over in 1977.

Tickets are $25. FSC students are admitted free of charge; non-FSC students are admitted at half price. For ticket information, please contact the Branscomb Auditorium box office at (863) 680-4296.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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