Even though the "King of the Clarinet," Artie Shaw, died four years ago, his music will come alive again in State College this Sunday.

The Artie Shaw Orchestra will play at 7 p.m. Sunday in The State Theatre, bringing the sound and music of the legendary bandleader and clarinetist.

Shaw's string of hugely successful singles catapulted him to a level of popularity on par with anyone else at the time, said Bill Curtis, the band's manager.

"Artie was like a superstar between 1935 and 1945, and his big band was one of the most popular of all time," said Rich Chiaraluce, the orchestra's leader and solo clarinetist.

Shaw's massive popularity eventually led to his disenchantment with the music industry and cued his early retirement in 1955, he said.

"He became fed up with the commercialism," Chiaraluce said. "Shaw was very inventive and creative and wanted to move on and create more progressive music, but all the fans just wanted to hear the old hits and dance."

The 16-piece big band will be playing a number of popular songs that have been arranged by Shaw, such as "Stardust," "Begin the Beguine" and "Any Old Time."

"We are going to be playing a lot of the hits, especially from Artie's 1938 band," Chiaraluce said. "We'll be playing pretty much the exact arrangements, but with a fresher, much more modern and contemporary sound."

Chiaraluce, who describes Shaw as a virtuoso musician, said the faithfulness to the original sound will trickle down to the details of the solos.

"Artie's solos were very, very difficult to play. If you try to learn them you will appreciate his immense talent," he said. "Some of his classic solos, such as in 'Stardust,' will be performed as exact replicas."

The band may, however, take a few liberties and branch out slightly with its performance.

"While they will be sticking mostly to Shaw's music, there may be one or two songs not performed by him, though they would be done in the style of Artie Shaw," Curtis said.

Though Shaw had long ago retired, he reformed his orchestra in 1983, enlisting Dick Johnson as the new bandleader.

"Artie said Dick Johnson was the best clarinetist he ever heard," Curtis said.

When Johnson fell ill a year ago and could no longer tour, Chiaraluce stepped in to fill his place.

"I had been playing in the Tommy Dorsey band when I met Dick and was eventually asked to fill in for him," Chiaraluce said.

State Theatre Executive Director Mike Negra said he was excited to bring the big band to State College.

"We had a lot of success when the Glenn Miller Orchestra played here two years ago," he said. "Big band jazz has done well here; there is definitely a market for it."