Arthur Charles Bartner (born August 30, 1940) is an American musician best known as the director of

Spirit of Troy The USC Trojan Marching Band, nicknamed The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe (TGMBITHOTU), represents the University of Southern California (USC) at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and nat ...

, the marching band for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, a position he held from 1970 to 2020. During this time he has become closely identified with

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents the University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...

and has been credited with establishing the Spirit of Troy as "one of the most-famous bands in America." In addition to his longtime work directing the USC marching band, Bartner also served as director of bands at Davison High School in

Davison, Michigan Davison is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 5,536 at the 2000 census and fell to 5,173 by the 2010 census. Davison is located within Davison Township survey township area (7N 8E) ...

, and as director of the band of the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Early life and education

Bartner was born and raised in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

. He claims his interest in music began when his older brother started taking

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

lessons, a path Bartner followed, and crystallized when he saw the

United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the ...

, which had come to perform at his

junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

. At

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

, Bartner earned all-state honors in both trumpet and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and went on to attend the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he was a member of

Sigma Alpha Mu Sigma Alpha Mu (), commonly known as Sammy, is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Though initially founded as a Jewish organization, the fraternity dropped its religious affiliation and became open to men of a ...

. After a failed try-out for the basketball team, he joined the University of Michigan Marching Band, where he played trumpet from 1958 to 1962. Following graduation in 1962, Bartner went on to earn a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

degree in 1963 and a

Doctor of Education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

in 1971, both also at Michigan. Bartner has credited longtime Michigan band director William D. Revelli as the most important musical influence in his life.

Career

Davison High School

Bartner was the band director at

Davison High School Davison High School is a girls' Church of England secondary school serving pupils aged 11 to 16 in Worthing, West Sussex, England. In its last inspection the school was judged by OFSTED as Outstanding. The school accommodates around 1320 girls a ...

. During his five years at Davison, Bartner said he doubled the size of the band from 60 to 120 students. During this time he also performed with the Flint Symphony Orchestra in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

USC

Bartner was hired as director of the USC marching band in 1970. When he took over the group, it had 80 members and was derisively known as "the library band." By the late 1970s Bartner had become disappointed in the direction of the group which had become increasingly unruly and insubordinate. Talked out of resigning by university administrators, Bartner adopted a new disciplinarian approach to running the band, banning profanity,

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

and alcohol, and introducing an intensity in rehearsal he borrowed from observing Trojan football practices. Adopting a disciplinarian approach to running the group, Bartner quickly grew its size and energy. In 1973

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

became the first in a long line of celebrity performers to appear on-field with the USC band. In 1979 the Spirit of Troy recorded ''

Tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine tooth, canine teeth, as with Narwhal, narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, ...

'' with

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

. In 2011 Bartner was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame. Bartner announced on November 22, 2019, that he would step down as full-time director at the end of the season, with the intention of remaining with the band in 2020 to help the band transition to a new director. He officially retired after the 2020 season, with Jacob Vogel named as his successor.

Personal life

Bartner married Barbara Masin, who he met in junior high school, in June 1962; they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartner, Arthur C. 1940 births Living people University and college band directors USC Thornton School of Music faculty University of Michigan School of Education alumni Musicians from Essex County, New Jersey People from Maplewood, New Jersey Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni