Bill Stultz has left a legacy.
For 31 years, he has led the Columbus North High School band program to new heights. From the Rose Parade in 2004, to the presidential inauguration in 2017 to Italy this week, Stultz has transformed the meaning of being in a band.
“I’ve never looked at this as a job,” said Stultz, who is taking his final bow at age 62. “It’s not a job. Maybe a love? Maybe a passion? I just enjoy what I do.”
Stultz will retire from his position at North on May 31. Until then, he’s moving full-force ahead, just as he has always done.
Stultz began his career by accepting a position at Prairie Heights High School in LaGrange, where he directed the school’s bands for 10 years.
While there, he took the Prairie Heights marching band to the state finals for the first time in that school’s history and went on to lead the band to the state finals a total of four times.
Stultz arrived at Columbus North in 1988. Since then, he has led North’s marching band, Sound of North, to nine state finals appearances, including its first one. He has also led the concert band to state finals on 20 occasions and the orchestra twice. The jazz bands, under his direction, have received many honors and awards.
“I came in with a vision of where I wanted the program to go,” he said. “The kids bought into it, and the parents bought into it. It was a different culture than what it is now.”
For more on this story, and additional photos, see Friday’s Republic.
