The Wisconsin School Music Association Marching Band Hall of Fame is intended to recognize the contributions made by individuals to marching band activity in the state of Wisconsin. This award may be given to recipients who have made significant contributions to the activity, are no longer actively teaching high school marching activity and may be given posthumously.
Nominations will accepted for the 2025 Marching Band Hall of Fame during April. Additional information and nomination form can be found here.
2024 Hall of Fame Inductee: Luther Appel
Luther Appel has dedicated his life to the musical enrichment of students through the marching arts. Growing up in Wisconsin, his contributions began as a student member of the Oregon High School Marching Band, participating in the Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA) marching band circuit in 1973.
Appel would later return to his alma mater and Verona High School in 1978 as a marching instructor until 1982, then he was director of the Regina Lions Marching Band in Saskatchewan, Canada until 1996. He rejoined the MACBDA circuit as an educator, leading his students in competition each summer (and to multiple championship wins) in the Midwestern United States.
Appel moved back to Wisconsin in 1996 to become the Bay Port High School band director in Suamico, Wis., where the music department later received a Grammy Signature School Award for excellence in music education. Appel also began an impressive, decades-long tenure adjudicating nationwide for several major organizations that serve musical youth, including Wisconsin School Music Association, MACBDA and Drum Corps International.
About Appel’s legacy, a colleague wrote, “Appel has made a significant impact on our youth in providing a musically meaningful, disciplined, and educational experience through the marching band.” Appel maintains that his passion is “bringing high quality music education to as many students as possible.” This passion has been inspirational for countless students and educators in Wisconsin and beyond to achieve excellence in their own musical pursuits.
