Original '40s Big Band to Play Summer Concerts In the Park

Pennsylvania's last remaining Original Big Band, The Wally Gingers Orchestra, is coming to Summer Concerts In the Park!

Wally Gingers founded his Orchestra in the late 1930s near Uniontown, PA, and the big band quickly became a regional sensation. Known for vibrant performances and original arrangements, they played multiple gigs every weekend across the greater Pittsburgh area, Morgantown and Wheeling, WV, Cumberland, MD, and Cleveland, Steubenville, and Youngstown, OH. As the Wally Gingers Orchestra picked up steam, they even performed extensively at iconic venues like New York City's Roseland Ballroom and Pottstown, PA's Sunnybrook Ballroom, and were regulars on ABC Radio, sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department and the American Federation of Musicians.

Wally Gingers' untimely death in 1990 put a pause on the music that brought joy to so many thousands. But in 2010, Clare Copenhaver, Wally's daughter and longtime drummer, revived the band as "The Big Band Sound of The Wally Gingers Orchestra." Dedicated to preserving Wally's legacy, they continue to captivate audiences.

The Northern Appalachian Folk Festival and the Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County are proud to host the Wally Gingers Orchestra at Summer Concerts In the Park on Sunday, June 30th. So bring a lawn chair to Memorial Park and come swing with us!