Victoria Duke will leave Chattanooga on Monday to begin a career as lead female vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Duke, a 23-year-old Center for Creative Arts graduate, said the magnitude of what that means has settled in a little, but not fully.
“I know Glenn Miller is the big band, but I don’t think it has really sunk in,” she said earlier this week. “It’s got me really kind of speechless. It’s amazing.”
Duke has Allan Brooks, the longtime manager at the Station House, where Duke worked as one of the singing waiters, to thank for her opportunity. When the orchestra announced it was coming to town more than a year ago, Brooks began working to get Duke an audition.
“I sing older songs from the ’40s and ’50s, and Allan thought I would be perfect for them,” she said.