William Revelli

William Donald Revelli (February 12, 1902 – July 16, 1994) was an American music educator and conductor best known for his association with the University of Michigan, where he directed the university's bands including the Michigan Marching Band 1935 to 1971. During his 36 years as director, the Michigan Marching Band won international acclaim for its musical precision. Revelli is also credited with innovations that moved college marching bands across the country away from rigid military formations. Among other things, Revelli's Michigan Marching Band was the first to synchronize music and movement and the first to use an announcer. 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". 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.

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.