AUBURN KNIGHTS TO CELEBRATE 75th ANNIVERSARY WITH TWO NIGHTS OF BIG-BAND DANCE MUSIC

AUBURN – The Auburn Knights Orchestra will celebrate its 75th anniversary on Friday and Saturday, July 29-30, with two special reunion concerts at the Marriott Grand National Hotel in Auburn.

Each night’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 and available at the door.

The popular dance band has evolved from the idea of two Auburn (then Alabama Polytechnic Institute) students in 1930 into a lasting tradition of big-band dance music still carried on by Auburn students today.

Jack Dresher of Auburn, who played with the Auburn Knights in the 1950s, said the 75th anniversary of the band provided its 300-plus alumni with the opportunity to do something special.

“We get together for a reunion every year,” Dresher said. “We swap stories among ourselves and, of course, play music. But we felt a milestone of this significance deserved a special celebration.”

Dresher said seven bands made up of Knights alumni from different decades plus the current Auburn Knights will perform over the course of the two nights.

“We'll have four bands each night,” Dresher said, adding that the formal concert will likely be followed by jam sessions that last “into the wee hours of the morning.”

Saturday night’s final performance by the current Auburn Knights will culminate with a special arrangement by former Knight trumpet player Jay Owen as a tribute to the Auburn Knights 75-year history. The arrangement will be narrated by local radio personality Bob Sanders.

Dresher said more than 75 former Knights will perform in the alumni bands. All proceeds from the concerts will go toward scholarships for AU students who play with the Auburn Knights.

Dancing will be available.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with nearly 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

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