William C. Moffit (born May 12, 1925 in

New Philadelphia, Ohio New Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The county's largest city, New Philadelphia lies along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 17,677 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city in the ...

; died March 5, 2008 in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

) was an American musician, music arranger and

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, best known for his innovations in marching band show techniques and for hundreds of arrangements for marching bands. Moffit was the third director of the

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

"All-American" Marching Band, serving from 1981 until his retirement in 1988. After his retirement, Moffit was named Professor Emeritus of Band. Moffit also served as director of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

Spirit of Houston The Spirit of Houston consists of the Cougar Marching Band and other spirit groups at the University of Houston, including the “UH” Cheer teams, the Cougar Dolls Dance Team, the “UH” Feature Twirlers, the Mascots, and the Cougar Brass. Th ...

marching band from 1969 to 1981. Moffit served as assistant director of bands at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 1960 to 1969, where he worked under renowned directors

Leonard Falcone Leonard Vincent Falcone (Fal-CONE-ee) (5 April 1899 – May 2, 1985) was an Italian-American musician, conductor, arranger, lecturer, and educator. He was well known as a virtuoso on the baritone horn, having extensively performed, written, and ...

and

Harry Begian Dr. Harry Begian (1921-2010) was an American band director, composer and arranger. Begian taught at both the secondary and collegiate level during his career. Early life Begian was born in Michigan to Armenian immigrants on April 24, 1921. The i ...

. Moffit left an indelible impact at MSU with his musical arrangements and Patterns in Motion. Before going to MSU, he spent 10 years in the public school systems in Ohio and Michigan as a band director, including at

Tippecanoe High School Tippecanoe High School is a public high school in Tipp City, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. It is the only high school in the Tipp City Exempted Village Schools district. According to US News 2016 Ranking of High Schools, Tippecanoe High School is 95t ...

Tipp City, Ohio Tipp City is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States just outside Dayton. The population was 9,689 at the 2010 census. Formerly known as Tippecanoe, and then Tippecanoe City. Later, it was renamed to Tipp City in 1938 because another town ...

, and Mt. Morris High School in Mt. Morris, MI. Moffit was an innovator in both marching band style and music. His "Patterns of Motion," based on a constant-motion system using four-player squads, revolutionized bands and their

halftime show A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of div ...

s, moving away from the military style of marching. His style dominated both college and high school marching band shows and competitions from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, when drum corps began to become popular. A prolific arranger, Moffit arranged more than 450 popular songs for marching bands as part of his famous Soundpower Series published by Hal Leonard, a staple of collegiate and pep bands for decades and still in widespread use today. Moffit was known to hear a new song on radio and have it arranged for his band the following week – sometimes so fast that proper copyright clearances could not be obtained.The Old Gray Cat blog: R.I.P. Bill Moffit (May 20, 2008)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffit, Bill Purdue University people University of Houston people Michigan State University people People from New Philadelphia, Ohio Musicians from Ohio 1925 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American musicians