David Leach has dedicated over three decades to music education, with the last 22 years as the Director of Bands at Pioneer High School. As he retires at the end of the school year, we celebrate his exceptional career and impact on countless students. Mr. Leach will conduct the Pioneer Symphony Band in a special selection of music composed in honor of him, making his final concert in Schreiber Auditorium an unforgettable event. Concert tickets are $20 and the concert starts at 7:30 PM at Pioneer High School - Schreiber Auditorium. After the concert join us for a post-concert reception.
The Pioneer Band Association has organized a Pre-Concert Dinner Celebration in honor of Mr. Leach. We have some special things planned for this event and a limited number of tickets are available. The tickets are $55 and the dinner starts at 5:30 PM at Pioneer High School - Cafeteria/Annex. Make sure to also purchase your Concert Tickets separately by going to the Concert Event link where you will add your concert tickets and select your concert seats. Ticket sales are non-refundable.
Tickets for Pre-Concert Dinner Celebration
All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the David A. Leach Band Camp Scholarship Fund, which recognizes Mr. Leach's dedication and supports a cause he feels passionate about - providing students with the opportunity to attend Pioneer Band Camp.
It is with a mix of emotions that we announce David Leach, our Director of Bands, is retiring at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The Pioneer Band Association is pleased to announce the David A. Leach Band Camp Scholarship Fund has been established to honor his outstanding 35-year career. The fund will benefit the Pioneer Band Program and provide at several students each year with a full scholarship to attend Pioneer Band Camp. Mr. Leach’s dedication to the Pioneer Band Program and the transformative experience of band camp is truly inspiring, and this scholarship is a wonderful way to recognize his contributions to the Pioneer High School community and ensure that his legacy of excellence will endure for years to come.
The goal is to raise $75,000 in honor of 75 years of Pioneer Band Camp at Interlochen. Thanks to the generosity of several founding donors, we are already more than halfway there but need your help to reach our goal! Please consider being a part of honoring Mr. Leach.
DONORS:
You can increase the effectiveness of the David A. Leach Band Camp Scholarship Fund by making a tax-deductible donation. Donations can be made directly to the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
How to Donate
Online: Please use the button below. When filling out the online form, select the Designation: Pioneer Band Association - David A. Leach Endowment Fund. Please note that donations made online are charged a 2.6% + $0.26 from the vendor that processes these transactions.
Via check: please make the check out to Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, write David A. Leach Endowment Fund in the memo line, and send along with this completed form to:
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
333 W. Fort Street, Suite 2010
Detroit, MI 48226
For assistance with any gifts, please call The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan's Philanthropic Services staff at (313) 961-6675
APPLICANTS:
Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, students can apply annually for the David A. Leach Band Camp Scholarship. The goal is to support multiple recipients each year. More information about the application will be released in the 2024-2025 school year.
About David A. Leach, Director of Bands (2002 - Present)
David A. Leach has been Director of Bands at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School since 2002. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Education at Eastern Michigan University. He began his teaching career at Ypsilanti High School in 1988 and spent fourteen years there before coming 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.
Leach sustains the long tradition of quality performance and repertoire in the Pioneer Bands. During his 21 years at Pioneer, his Concert and Jazz Bands have received consistent top ratings at district, state, and national festivals. His Symphony, Concert, and Jazz Bands have won overall festival championships at every national event entered. Leach wrote curriculum for and introduced a ninth-grade Jazz Lab, increased student numbers, and enhanced his students’ personal success in music with a high percentage of his graduates going on to study for careers in music education and performance. Under his baton, the Pioneer Symphony Band has performed four 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. In 2021, Mr. Leach and the Pioneer Symphony Band was invited to be part of one of the feature ensembles and clinicians in GRAMMY Museum's new initiative GRAMMY in the Schools Fest.
Mr. Leach has served on the executive board of MSBOA’s District XII as Secretary, Vice-President of Adjudication, Vice-President of Band & Orchestra, President, and is currently serving as 2nd-past-President; He has been an active member of MSBOA since 1988. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, 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 and 2010 MSBOA District XII Band Teacher of the Year, and in 2014 and 2017 was a GRAMMY Foundation 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 is also the Conductor of the Festival (faculty) Winds at the Southampton Summer Music Camp, a position he has held since 2013.
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 is 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. Currently, Mr. Leach is a past member of the GRAMMY Museum's Music Educator Award screening panel; tasked with selecting candidates for the GRAMMY Teacher of the Year finalists, and this spring is a featured clinician (along with the Pioneer Symphony Band) in the GRAMMY Museum's new 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 GRAMMY awards.
View 2018 Interview with David Leach!