William Revelli

Born in Spring Gulch, Colorado, Revelli studied violin as a child, He also played in various pit orchestras in Chicago before accepting a high-school conducting job at Hobart High School in Hobart, Indiana, in 1925. Revelli transformed the Hobart High School Band into one of the best small high school bands in the country. He was music director at Hobart from 1925 to 1935, where his bands won either five or six national championships. In 1934, Revelli's Hobart band was invited to play at the World's Fair, and one newspaper reported: "William Revelli has developed his Hobart, Ind., class B band to a point where it is ranked by many with the best class A organizations from larger schools." In 1931, Revelli was paid a salary of $5,000 a year, a large sum at that time. ==University of Michigan==

Overview of career at Michigan In 1935 Revelli was hired by the University of Michigan as director of bands. Reputation as taskmaster Known on Michigan's campus as "The Chief", Revelli was known as a tough taskmaster. It has been said that, if asked, "nearly every student who played under Revelli could vividly recount some memory of him; he left a lasting impression on everyone with whom he crossed paths." Revelli added that his pursuit of perfection was about more than the music: "This striving for perfection will carry over into other areas of their lives." On another occasion, he noted, "Young music students have better things to do than get in trouble." Development of the Michigan Bands Revelli recruited talented musicians to Michigan like a football coach recruited top athletes. Revelli required all male wind instrument majors to participate in the Marching Band. This requirement swelled the number of students in the Marching Band. Revelli was also known for his use of new music in his performances, often commissioning new pieces. In 1946, the band moved to Harris Hall. Revelli joked that the band was making "progress" as it moved from a building built in 1854—Morris Hall—to one built in 1888. The large upstairs room with its plaster walls and wooden floor provided the perfect acoustical setting for a band rehearsal. Revelli later said the "Michigan Band sound" was in part due to the perfect acoustics of Harris Hall and Hill Auditorium. In 1961, Revelli and the U-M Symphony Band, under sponsorship of the U.S. State Department, toured the Soviet Union, Romania, Egypt, Greece, and five other Near East countries for 15 weeks. One of the attendees at the USSR concert in Minsk, USSR - according to the Warren Commission report - was none other than Lee Harvey Oswald - the reported assassin of John F. Kennedy. On other tours, the Symphony Band under Revelli appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, Boston Symphony Hall, and the Shrine Auditorium in Detroit. Revelli sat down and said, "I want you to know that I coach my band exactly the same way you coach your football team. We'll have discipline, and we'll do it the way it's supposed to be done!" When the freshmen football players arrived in the fall of 1969, Schembechler took Revelli up on his offer and asked Revelli to teach the freshmen how to sing "The Victors". Schembechler gathered the freshmen at Yost Field House, and Revelli entered in full uniform – described by Schembechler as "a lean, short, distinguished-looking older gentleman—a band director right out of central casting." Schembechler told the freshmen that they were about to learn "about the greatest college fight song from the greatest band director in the history of college football." Revelli rose to the podium, tapped his baton, looked right into their eyes and said, "John Philip Sousa called this the greatest fight song ever written. And you will sing it with respect!" Revelli brought out a pitch pipe and began the instructions. "You sing from down in here, in your diaphragm. You bring it up from down here with feeling." Then he blew the starting note on his pitch pipe. The players started, "Hail to the Victors, valiant –" Revelli interrupted, "No, No, No! That's terrible! There's no enthusiasm. You didn't sing it without enthusiasm!" They started again, and Revelli interrupted again. "No, no, no! We're gonna get this right if I'm here all night!" Schembechler marveled at how Revelli "had those big lugs in his back pocket" from the moment he took the podium. As he put it, "He didn't just teach them 'The Victors.' He taught them Michigan tradition!" He thought so much of Revelli's performance that he invited him back every year to teach the freshmen what Michigan tradition was about. Schembechler recalled, "He was absolutely great, and the freshmen absolutely loved it. And let me tell you, every one of those freshmen came out of that session with Revelli knowing 'The Victors.' They knew the words, they knew how to sing it, and they knew how to emphasize the right spots. They flat out knew how to do it. And it was only because he came over there with the idea that those guys were going to come out of that meeting room knowing how to sing this fight song the right way or else! And they did. That was Bill Revelli." The admiration between Revelli and Schembechler was mutual. In a 1970 interview, Revelli compared himself and his training methods to those of Schembechler. "Bo and I speak the same language. Psychologically, our practices are the same. Both the team and the band have to perfect their fundamentals before they can do anything else. And both need proper warmups to stay in shape in the off-season. Sometimes we'll spend 45 minutes on calisthenics of the embouchure (perfecting the position of the lips on the mouthpiece of an instrument). I had one boy come back who hadn't practiced all summer. His lips were about six months behind everyone else's." ==College Band Directors National Association==

Revelli was the founder of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) in 1941. The CBDNA began as a committee of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). In the fall of 1938 that committee, under the leadership of Revelli, met independently in Chicago. The group met again in December 1941 and formed the University and College Band Conductors Conference. The name of the organization was changed to the College Band Directors National Association in 1947. Revelli also served as a President of the National Band Association and the American Bandmasters Association, and was named Honorary Life President of the CBDNA. ==National High School Honors Band==

For the United States 200th Birthday, Congress created the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) who tasked the MENC (Music Educators National Convention) with creating a National Band made up of high school students for several concerts during the Bicentennial celebrations. In 1975, the MENC set up the Bicentennial Commission and started planning the National High School Honors Band.1 With the help of the MEJ (Music Educators Journal), high school band directors were asked to send in applications for only their best musicians who were at or near a professional level of skill to be considered for an audition. Revelli was the only person considered to direct the band. He was asked to conduct and accepted with amendments to the MENC plans for choosing students, among other caveats. While two exceptional senior high school students were to be chosen from every state, Revelli instead picked the best high school musicians, leaving multiple states without representatives and even choosing a student who was only a junior at the time. His requirement for excellence were uncompromising for this most important event, the final performance of which would take place at the Kennedy Center. The music was chosen from great American composers, including Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa, Trittico by Vaclav Nelhybel, as well as The Star-Spangled Banner. Because William Revelli only conducted band and classical music he declined conducting Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein. George Roberts, " Mr. Bass Trombone" , accompanied the National High School Honors Band as a soloist in Somewhere as it was nearly impossible for professional musicians. He agreed at Revelli's request even though Bill wasn't conducting Somewhere. The events were considered a great success due to the perfection demanded from William Revelli of the country's finest high school musicians and a fitting tribute to the nation. The success spurred "National High School Honors Bands" popping up across the country in the years following the 1976 Bicentennial, although none are considered to be close to the success of Revelli's Bicentennial Band. ==Revelli International School of Music==

In the 1970s, Revelli headed a school in Glion/Montreux Switzerland called the Revelli International School of Music. High School students from various states attended for a short time and then toured through various countries in Europe. ==Awards and honors==

Revelli received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to marching band music, music education, and the University of Michigan. These honors include: • In 1947, the Chicago Musical College conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Music on Revelli. • In 1961, the University of Michigan presented Revelli with the faculty award for distinguished achievement. • In 1994, he was posthumously awarded the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity for men of music at its national convention in St. Louis, Missouri. The award was accepted on his behalf by his grandson. He had been initiated by the Fraternity's Alpha Lambda chapter at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1935. ==Death and family==

Revelli died of heart failure on July 16, 1994, at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor at age 92. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Rosemary Margaret Revelli Strong. He is survived by his grandson John William Revelli Strong and Kimberly (Strong) Snyder, and his great-grandchildren Sara and William Snyder. He is interred at Washtenaw Memorial Park in Ann Arbor. ==See also==