The Band
The Ann Arbor Concert Band – founded in 1978 as the Ann Arbor Symphony Band by Victor Bordo and David Juillet – has served as an ensemble for amateur musicians desiring to perform wind band literature. The band has its roots in the Ann Arbor School System's music program and continues a close relationship with it today.
The band is a non-profit ensemble of musicians from the community. While it maintains an amateur status, the standards of performance and organization are strictly professional.
Concerts are usually presented four times during the concert season between September and May, typically at the Michigan Theater and Hill Auditorium.
The ensemble has premiered several new works for concert band, including the award-winning composition "Heroes Lost and Fallen" by Dr. David Gillingham, Professor of Composition at Central Michigan University.
The Ann Arbor Concert Band fosters young wind and percussion musicians through the Andrew J. Lum Young Artist Scholarship Competition.
Previous conductors of the Ann Arbor Concert Band have included James Nissen, Lloyd Whitehead, David Woike, Donald Schleicher, Jeffrey Campbell, Max Plank, H. Robert Reynolds, William D. Revelli and Victor Bordo.
Director
David A. Leach served for 22 years as Director of Bands at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School beginning in 2002 until his retirement in June of 2024. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Education at Eastern Michigan University, and begun his teaching career at Ypsilanti High School in 1988 spending fourteen years there before moving to Ann Arbor. He was appointed Chair of the Pioneer High School Performing Arts Department in 2006, and Fine Arts Department Chair in 2013, serving in that position until 2021.
Mr. Leach sustained the long tradition of quality performance and repertoire in the Pioneer Bands. During his 22-year tenure at Pioneer, his Concert and Jazz Bands all received consistent top ratings at district, state, and national festivals. His Symphony, Concert, and Jazz Bands won overall festival championships at every national event entered. Mr. Leach has had nine ensembles perform at the Michigan state music conference; twice with Ypsilanti Wind Symphony (Midwestern Conference in Ann Arbor), four times with the Symphony Band from Pioneer, and the Pioneer Jazz Band (Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids). Additionally, Mr. Leach has had three ensembles featured at the Western Michigan University Spring Conference on Wind & Percussion Music (Ypsilanti Wind Symphony and Pioneer Symphony Band twice). Under his baton, the Pioneer Symphony Band has performed five times at Carnegie Hall, twice at the Mid-Europe Music Conference in Schladming, Austria and performed on tour in China. In 2014 and 2016 the Pioneer Symphony was selected a New Music National Winner in the Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors project.
Mr. Leach served on the executive board of MSBOA’s District XII as Secretary, Vice-President of Adjudication, Vice-President of Band & Orchestra, and President. During his entire tenure as educator, Mr. Leach was the host chair of MSBOA sponsored festivals including District XII; Marching Band Festival, Band & Orchestra Festival, Solo & Ensemble Festival, and STATE Band and Orchestra Festivals. He is still a member of the National Band Association; serving as state representative in 2024-25, and The American School Band Director’s Association. He has been included five times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. The University of Michigan chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia honored him in 2000 with the Pendleton Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in music education. He has been nominated four times for Disney’s American Teacher Award, and has received honors from the United States Marine Corps for sending his students to the Marine bands, including two to the Commandant’s Own Marine Band in Washington, D.C. He was the 2006, 2010 and 2022 MSBOA District XII Band Teacher of the Year, and a 2014, 2017, and 2022 GRAMMY Museum’s Music Educator of the Year quarter-finalists. In 2015 School Band & Orchestra Magazine named Leach one of the “50 Directors Who Make A Difference”. In 2016 the Michigan Chapter of the ASBDA presented Pioneer High School Bands the Award of Excellence award for its continued commitment to excellence. Mr. Leach served as the winds and percussion coach for the Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra for over 12 years. Mr. Leach was also the Conductor of the Festival (faculty) Winds at the Southampton Summer Music Camp, a position he held beginning in 2013, retiring in the summer of 2023. Mr. Leach is a current member of the Conducting faculty and a representative of the Scholarship Division for Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp. In the Fall of 2022, Mr. Leach was named the Artistic Director and Conductor of the famed Ann Arbor Concert Band.
Mr. Leach has won the praise of international composers such as Michael Daugherty, John Mackey, Thomas Duffy, Alfred Reed, Jan Van der Roost and others for his insightful conducting of their compositions. Mr. Leach has attended the Wind Conducting Symposium with John L. Whitwell and studied conducting with the University of Michigan Director of Bands Michael Haithcock, and Maestro Michael Adleson; former conductor with the New York Philharmonic. In 2019 Mr. Leach was named Fellow for the H. Robert Reynolds Conducting Institute at the Midwest Clinic.
Mr. Leach was a proud member of the Pioneer High School Music Department, which has earned GRAMMY Signature School honors during his tenure there. In 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2015 the department achieved GRAMMY Signature School Gold status as one of the top two public high school music programs in the nation. In 2006 and 2011 the Pioneer Music Department was named the National GRAMMY Signature School as the top public high school music program in the nation, making it the first program ever honored twice by the GRAMMY Foundation. Mr. Leach is a past member of the GRAMMY Museums Music Educator Award screening panel; tasked with selecting candidates for the GRAMMY Teacher of the Year finalists. In the spring of 2022 Mr. Leach was selected as a featured clinician (along with the Pioneer Symphony Band) in the GRAMMY Museum's initiative GRAMMY In the Schools Fest - a four-day virtual festival celebrating music and music education broadcast online the week leading up to Music's Biggest Night - the 2022 GRAMMY awards.
A2CB Board
The Ann Arbor Concert Band is governed by eight performing members of the Band. Board members are elected by the Band. The current Board members are:
Phillip Rhodes - President
John Janevic - Vice-President
Laura Kaufman - Treasurer
Erica Chapman - Secretary
Don Henig - Member at large (YAC Lead and Personnel Manager)
Jessica Dorado - Member at large (Co-Treasurer, Social Media)
Allen Hunter - Member at large
Joe Kusiak - Member at large
The Board meets monthly to drive actions aligned with these key elements:
Vision: Establish the A2CB in the top tier of amateur-led community bands regionally and nationally
Mission: Provide diverse and rewarding musical experiences to our members, audience, and community
Core Values: Musical Excellence, Financial Stability, Development, Diversity
Contact
Interested in joining the Ann Arbor Concert Band? Send us an email!
Ann Arbor Concert Band P.O. Box 1843 Ann Arbor, MI 48106
(P) 734.478.7515