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Beloved educator steps down after 68 years of music

Dr. Stan Michalski, alongside his successor Ben Ranzinger, helps middle schoolers practice for their concert. Michalski can listen to students’ performances and tell exactly how they can be improved.CHARLOTTE — “Stan the Band Man” took his final bow last week during the annual Christmas concerts for middle and high schoolers of Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools – earning standing ovations and a band room named in his honor, and leaving a remarkable legacy few could match.

Dr. Stanley Michalski Jr. started the band program at MACS back in 1993 and spent the next three decades teaching music, guiding instructors and building an enterprise that now includes band programs at nine schools and routinely sends students on to college and sometimes professional music careers.

What’s more remarkable is that Stan Michalski is 90. He will retire in January after 68 years in music – 32 of them at MACS, a second career that started on a whim.

“I call him ‘Stan the Band Man’ because of the depth of his expertise and love of music,” says Charlotte Catholic High School President Kurt Telford, who admits he also had trouble pronouncing Michalski’s Polish last name (it’s “Mick-all-ski”).

“He knows everything about band – from what features we needed in our new Fine Arts Center, to instruments, to acoustics, to what the kids in band need to inspire them,” Telford says. “Stan knows how to elevate his students through music and through praise – which also elevates families and our entire school community.”

Known as “Dr. Michalski” to most, he will retire from MACS on Jan. 13 – the same date he started 32 years ago – after retiring as a professor, conductor and administrator at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, which took him around the world. He was 57 when he and his wife moved from Pennsylvania to Charlotte to be near their children, unaware of the opportunity that lay ahead and would allow him to combine two passions: music and the Catholic faith.

Church opens doors

Michalski grew up in Pennsylvania with a tuba to his lips, accordion around his neck, and piano at his fingertips. His father, a self-taught musician whose parents had come from Poland, taught him all he knew starting at the age of 5. Young Stanley played at weddings, sang at funerals and played the organ at church. His father “sent me to the nuns” in Scranton to learn to sing in Latin.

“I played three Masses every day. They had to put boards on the seat so I could see over the organ,” Michalski recalls. “Playing for the Catholic Church is what opened the door for me.”
Michalski went on to play piano at nightclubs and strum numbers for the local radio station. He obtained a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree in music education from Penn State. Over the years, he picked up the wind instruments as well, performing across the country and “learning from the best of the best,” he says, until he began to be consulted as the master musician.

Giving back to God

Former MACS Superintendent Dr. Michael Skube had no idea of the gem he found in 1992, when Michalski stepped inside the central office, looking to volunteer his time to start a music program in the Catholic schools.

“They didn’t have one music stand – nothing, not a (music) piece, not even a pencil,” says Michalski, who was hired as MACS Instrumental Music Coordinator.

He drew up plans, spoke with Skube for hours, conducted interest surveys, and with $10,000 appropriated, launched the band program.

“Dr. Skube asked me how many students I thought I was going to get. I didn’t know, I thought we’d get about 50,” Michalski says. “We did the survey, and we had 162 kids signed up. That was the nucleus that started it all.”

That nucleus grew to more than 400 students a year, from one school to nine schools, from one teacher to seven, and from no place to rehearse to the state-of-the-art MACS Fine Arts Center, which opened in 2022 on the Charlotte Catholic campus and is available for use by the schools and the community.

“One thing I preach to the students is that when you are part of a band program, you are giving back part of the talent that God gave you,” Michalski says. “When we teach a student to play well, they are generating their interest, their heart, and their talent for other people.”

One of those students was Ben Ranzinger. He played trombone in middle and high school, went on to study music, then returned to teach music at Charlotte Catholic, his alma mater. Now, with Michalski’s blessing, he will succeed his mentor as the Catholic Schools’ music coordinator.

“The advice he provided was very guiding for me. There was a moment of clarity in my sophomore year where I knew this was a path I could take,” says Ranzinger, who considers Michalski a father figure.

“He was really helpful in developing me as a musician and as a person. He is not just a band mentor and a band representative, he is an international music icon. He represents our program to the highest degree.”

Michalski oversees MACS band classes, marching bands, concert bands, ensembles, and all measures of special performances. Beyond music, he is a skilled educator and administrator. At

MACS he’s hired more than a dozen band and music directors who work with students, while he roams from one school to the next to see how things are going.

Love and encouragement, he says, are the tools that inspire students and teachers alike.

When he hears a good solo, Michalski will praise the student, then call or email their parents.

“Those parents call me and tell me they are never going to erase that message from their phone,” he says. “I encourage my faculty to call one child every day. When I am watching a teacher, I want the teachers to compliment at least two or three students. I think that is a lifetime thing; everybody loves getting compliments.”

Before concerts, Michalski typically pulls the soloists aside. In his deep, melodic voice (a B-flat, he’ll tell you), he reminds students he is depending on them and is confident they can do it. His pep talk ends with a handshake or a pat on the back, then Michalski eases their nerves with a wink.

Defining Moments

Thousands of students, including four of his grandchildren, have played under Michalski’s instruction in MACS. He takes pride in all the graduates, many of whom have gone on to play in college. Watching a child blossom from beginner to expert, Michalski says, is one of his greatest rewards.

“A lot of these students I’ve had since fourth grade. At that age they are vulnerable, and they will give you a hug around the leg. By eighth grade, they don’t want to talk to you. And by 11th and 12th grade, they come back and they give you a hug again.”

Two defining moments stand out for Michalski: One is the first time the Charlotte Catholic band marched onto the football field, and the other is their first performance in the Fine Arts Center in 2022.

“When that band marched out on the field, I just had this feeling like, ‘Oh, good God, is this real? Look what we’ve done from nothing,’” he recalls. “They did such a good job playing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and the school alma mater. It was like everything came together: the football team had that nice scoreboard, and with the band – we had an identity!”

The Fine Arts Center added an aura of professionalism, he says, with comfortable seats instead of bleachers, good lighting and acoustics. In these surroundings, his band members shine.

A lasting legacy

In December, admirers gave Michalski a fitting sendoff: A special reception. A champagne toast. Kids seeking his autograph. A TV news interview. Two Christmas concerts with students playing in unison – and a bronze plaque inscribed with his name that will hang in the Performing Arts Center’s band room.

“Stan is dearly beloved by those he has taught, those he has led, and his colleagues across our school system,” says Catholic Schools Superintendent Greg Monroe. “He cares about others and demonstrates humility. He provides the great witness of a master teacher who always reflects the very best of his faith.”

Michalski says he’d be remiss if he failed to acknowledge two key ingredients in his success: God and his family, especially his wife of 67 years, Joan, who passed away in March.

“A lot of this success is due largely to my wife, because when we went off to play, she sat home with the babies,” he says. “Later, she traveled with me to London and came with me when I judged the St. Patrick’s Day Parade every year in Ireland. In Vienna, she was with me for four summers. … She was my best critic. She would tell me if I was nervous on stage. She would tell me to stand up straight. She was a good pal to have, and she went to every football game – 330 games! She sat on that bus, and we traveled all the time to Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, and she was a real trooper. And she didn’t even play an instrument.”

MACS won’t be the same without Stan the Band Man, says President Telford. He has insisted that Michalski keep his key to the school, so he can look in on the kids anytime.

“Stan is a model. He does everything he expects others to do, whether that’s moving chairs, setting up or breaking down,” Telford says. “The kids see his love for music – and for them. So they respond. They want to do well, not only for themselves and for Dr. Michalski. That’s what every great educator hopes for.”

— Lisa Geraci

Other high notes

• A career spanning 68 years as a conductor, educator, performer, clinician and performance judge
• Bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in music education from Pennsylvania State University
• Played in 43 states and on three continents
• Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Music and Conductor of Bands at Clarion University of Pennsylvania
• Recognized as one of the top 10 most outstanding band directors in the U.S. by The School Musician Journal
• Who’s Who in American Music, 1985-2007
• Awarded membership in the American Bandmasters Association in 1974; elected president in 1998
• Recipient of the Gold Medal of Honor from the Denmark Band Director’s Association