Birth of the Band
part 5
Within a few years after the end of World War II, Ann Arbor school trustees began to plan for a new, larger high school to accommodate the baby boom. In a land swap between the U-M and the public schools, the high school gave up its home at State and Huron and on the Wines athletic field for a new campus on the large parcel of land diagonally across from the Michigan Stadium.
Roth & the band at the cornerstone dedication for the new school
Roth helped design a tiered band room, practice rooms, and a spacious auditorium for the new high school. The band program moved into its new home at Main and Stadium in April 1956 with the rest of the student body, faculty and staff. It wasn't long before the band program established the annual Picnic Pops Concert on the front lawn of the new building.
Aerial view of the new high school opened in April 1956
At the new school, the bands saw unprecedented growth and success under another series of excellent directors. When Ann Arbor High was split into Huron and Pioneer, the band program also divided into two—and both have thrived, winning national recognition by music educators and adjudicators. The Grammy Foundation has designated both Huron and Pioneer as Signature Schools several times in recent years, placing their overall music programs (bands, orchestras and choruses) among the top few dozen in the country. Earlier this year the GRAMMY Foundation named Pioneer its 2006 National Signature School—number one nationwide.
It was a fitting tribute to the band program at old Ann Arbor High, which established the foundations for the long-term success and excellence of music in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Henry Frieze himself would have been proud to know that in a building that later carried his name, nationally renowned band programs would be born.
This article is based on research for The Centennial Project. Initiated by Daryl Hurst to commemorate the history of Ann Arbor's high school band program, the project is expected to culminate in a centennial celebration on the band's 100th anniversary in 2014. Hurst can be contacted at darylhurst@comcast.net or by telephone at 734-663-6306.
The Centennial Project is also focused on the present and future of the Ann Arbor high school band programs. Some young members of the Class of 2014 were gathered as potential band members for a commemorative photograph on the front steps of the Frieze Building last November, posing in a style that mimics the historic photograph of that 1914 band. The project plans to follow the progress of these current fourth grade students as they progress in the Ann Arbor Public School's instrumental music program.
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