There are very few December nights that promise three hours of pure swing, and Sacramento has one of them. The Glenn Miller Orchestra brings its In the Christmas Mood holiday program to Memorial Auditorium on Monday, December 14, 2026, for a single 7:00 p.m. performance. It is a rare chance to hear the big-band repertoire that defined an era — live, in one of the most storied concert halls in the city.
What the Glenn Miller Orchestra Is
The Glenn Miller Orchestra has been performing since 1956, more than a decade after Glenn Miller’s disappearance over the English Channel in 1944. The orchestra — typically 18 to 22 musicians — has toured continuously ever since, carrying the original arrangements of songs that charted in the 1940s and have never really stopped being heard. If you have been in a grocery store, a hotel lobby, or a holiday film at any point in the last 80 years, you have heard this music.
The In the Christmas Mood program is the orchestra’s dedicated holiday show. It mixes big-band standards with Christmas arrangements, all in the Glenn Miller style. On the program are Chattanooga Choo Choo, In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, and Pennsylvania 6-5000 — the songs that defined the sound — alongside holiday pieces: Home for the Holidays, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and White Christmas. The overall experience is part concert, part nostalgia trip, part dancing-in-your-seat hazard.
For anyone who grew up with this music, the show is straightforwardly emotional. For anyone who did not, it is a useful primer on how a 20-piece band can fill a room with a sound that no recording fully captures.
The Venue
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium at 1515 J Street opened in 1927 as a tribute to local soldiers killed in World War I. The building’s vaulted ceiling, ornate plasterwork, and warm acoustics have made it a mainstay of Sacramento’s performing arts calendar ever since. It holds roughly 4,000 people in a configuration that feels more intimate than the number suggests — the upper balcony is steep enough that even the back rows have a clear sightline to the stage.
One practical note: the Upper Balcony has no elevator or ramp access and features narrow, unpadded wooden seats. If accessibility or comfort over a three-hour show matters to you, opt for the main floor or lower balcony when selecting tickets.
The auditorium is in the heart of downtown Sacramento, two blocks from the K Street Mall and five blocks from the Capitol. Street parking along J, K, and L Streets thins out on weekday evenings, but the 10th and K Parking Garage (1015 10th St.) and the 9th and L Parking Structure (900 L St.) are both within a five-minute walk.
Tickets and What to Expect
The Downtown Sacramento Partnership lists tickets at $77 to $100 through Ticketmaster. That range reflects seat location; check the Ticketmaster seating chart to compare floor versus balcony options before buying. The box office can also be reached at (916) 808-5181 or sccbotickets@cityofsacramento.org for questions about accessibility accommodations.
Doors typically open an hour before a Memorial Auditorium show, which would put them at 6:00 p.m. on December 14 — though the venue has not published a separate door time as of this writing, so confirm closer to the date. The show is all ages. December 14 is a Monday, which is unusual for a major show, but the orchestra’s tour schedule is tight during the holiday run and Monday availability in Sacramento is what the routing allowed.
Dress code is whatever you want it to be, though this is the kind of show where you will see everything from blazers to holiday sweaters, and both are correct.
If you are already planning a holiday night out in Sacramento that week, the Sacramento Ballet’s Nutcracker runs December 5–21 at the SAFE Credit Union PAC, so December 14 could anchor a full weekend of holiday performances across two venues. The Broadway Sacramento production of A Christmas Carol also opens December 11 at UC Davis Health Pavilion, if you want to build a proper holiday theater week.
The Details
- What: Glenn Miller Orchestra — In the Christmas Mood
- When: Monday, December 14, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
- Where: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St., Sacramento, CA 95814
- Tickets: $77–$100, available through Ticketmaster or at the box office
- Box office: (916) 808-5181 or sccbotickets@cityofsacramento.org
- Accessibility: Upper Balcony is not elevator-accessible; main floor and lower balcony are recommended for mobility needs
- Nearby parking: 10th and K Garage (1015 10th St.) or 9th and L Structure (900 L St.)
- Age: All ages
Bottom Line
The Glenn Miller Orchestra comes to Sacramento once in a great while, and the December 14 show lands squarely in the two weeks when Sacramento residents are most likely to want exactly this kind of evening out. The program is reliably executed — the orchestra has been doing this for 70 years — and Memorial Auditorium is the right room for it. The $77-to-$100 ticket range is in line with what you would pay for a comparable Broadway Sacramento or Sacramento Philharmonic show. If big-band Christmas music is your idea of a good time, or if you want to introduce someone to this era of American music with the benefit of a good sound system and a stage full of live musicians, this is an easy recommendation.
For more holiday performances in Sacramento this season, see the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera 2026-27 season guide and the full rundown of Candlelight Concerts around the Sacramento area.
