Peter A. (Pete) Tolhuizen was born in Vicksburg, Michigan, on September 26, 1952, to James A. and Mary H. Tolhuizen. His father was a lawyer who graduated from Kalamazoo College and received his law degree from the University of Michigan. His mother had a nursing degree also from the University of Michigan but served as a homemaker and later an elementary school teacher. Pete has an older sister Mary, and two older brothers Jim (now deceased) and John. Pete was born into a very musical family; his father played the violin, his mother played the piano and the entire family sang in the church choirs. Pete grew up listening to his father’s classical music records as well as listening to his sister and brothers performing in the outstanding Vicksburg High School Band. He also spent many Saturday mornings in the music building at Western Michigan University while his brothers and sister took private lessons with the applied faculty.

Pete started as a violinist in the orchestra in the fifth grade at Sunset Lake Elementary in Vicksburg, but he switched to band and cornet in sixth grade, influenced by his oldest brother who was at that time the first chair Cornet in the high school band. Pete’s first band instructor was the legendary Michigan band director, William D. Root, who served as a major influence on Pete becoming a band director.

In 1964, the Tolhuizen family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Pete enrolled at Fair Plain Junior High School and was part of the band taught by Ray Norberg who also turned out to be another major influence in him becoming a band director. Being a move-in student, Pete had to start at the bottom of the cornet section, but by the end of the school year he had worked his way to the top of the section. In eighth grade he began to take his first private lessons with Mr. Norberg and in his ninth-grade year, he was first chair in the top band playing such literature as Holst’s First Suite in E-flat. Another major influence during Pete’s junior high years was that of Bernie Kuschel who was the Director of Bands at Benton Harbor High School and Pete’s older brother, John’s, band director. Pete looked forward to being in the Benton Harbor Band.

That was not to be as in 1967, the Tolhuizen family moved to the neighboring city of St. Joseph, Michigan, and Pete attended St. Joseph High School, the rival high school to Benton Harbor High School. Again, as a move-in, Pete had to start at the bottom of the section. Fortunately, Pete’s time there was short-lived as at the Symphonic Band chair audition in November he ended up first chair. Robert W. Brown directed the St. Joseph High School Band. Bob Brown was a tremendous influence on Pete not only through his high school years but as well as when he became a college student and a first-year band director. In his tenth-grade year, Pete began taking private lessons from Monte Sheedlo, who at the time was the assistant band director at Benton Harbor High School.

During his high school years, Pete earned a spot in the Michigan Honors Band (the Michigan equivalent to the Texas All-State Band) his sophomore and junior years as well as the Michigan Honors Orchestra his senior year. In the summer between his sophomore and junior years in high school, Pete began playing in the St. Joseph Municipal Band, a band supported by city taxes. There in the cornet section, Pete first met a college student soon to be a teacher named Lynne Jackson. During Pete’s senior year in high school, he began to take lessons with Don Bullock who was the trumpet teacher at Western Michigan University. Working with Mr. Bullock cemented his desire to attend Western, which he did in the fall of 1970, entering as an instrumental music education major.

At Western, Pete performed in the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Jazz Lab Band, and the Symphony Orchestra where he served as the Principal Trumpet his senior year. The band directors at Western were Carl Bjerregaard and Leonard V. Meretta. At Western Pete also participated in chamber music ensembles which was a priority of the brass faculty. The brass quintet that Pete performed in was formed with all Freshmen students with the idea that the quintet would stay together as an ensemble for all four college years. In his senior year, Pete's quintet was chosen to perform at the Yale University Brass Symposium, organized by the New York Brass Quintet. During Pete’s time in college, he volunteered his time teaching the summer marching band camp at his alma mater, St. Joseph High School. This was a tremendous learning experience for Pete which included “hands-on” experience teaching marching fundamentals, running a marching band rehearsal as well as opportunities to conduct music rehearsals. Pete graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western in April of 1974.

Pete began his teaching career in the Berrien Springs Public Schools. He served as the high school and junior high band director with a part-time assistant who primarily taught beginners. At Berrien Springs, Pete experienced initial success yet he felt like he still needed further development in his role as a band director. Consequently, he elected to return to Western Michigan University in the fall of 1976 to serve as a graduate assistant in the marching and concert band programs.
During the summer of 1976, before Pete was to start his degree, the current director of bands, Carl Bjerregaard, left to take the job at Florida State University. His replacement turned out to be Eddie Green, from Lake Highlands High School. Pete was able to serve as Mr. Green’s graduate assistant. Of course, Mr. Green provided Pete with numerous insights into improving as a band director, particularly regarding rehearsal techniques and band tuning procedures. More importantly, he validated and encouraged Pete’s ability to hear pitch and accuracy problems in band performances. At the end of that school year, Mr. Green mentioned to Pete that Lake Highlands High School in Dallas needed an assistant who could run the marching band, and he suggested that Pete should take the position.

In the summer of 1977, Pete moved to Dallas to become Malcolm Helm’s assistant director at Lake Highlands, a position he held for the next eleven years. Those years were full of many memorable experiences including two Mid-West performances and a second-place finish in Honor Band. It was also a time of tremendous growth for Pete being around such master teachers as Joe Dixon, Jim Irwin, Claire Johnson, Bob Johnson, Carroll Cantrell, Brian Gibbs, Bill Henderson, Greg Rinehart, Kathy Mills, Frank Troyka, Greg Hames, Rick Badgett, Mark Wessels, Kennan Wylie, Ramsey MacDonald, and Lee Binford. He was also able to continue to be mentored by Mr. Green.

During his time at Lake Highlands, Pete transitioned the marching band from a modified corps-style 6 to 5 drill to a total free form corps-style drill. During that time, the marching band earned many first-place awards including the MBA (now known as BOA) Houston Regional Championship in 1982. He also conducted the Symphonic Band II, earning numerous "Best In Class" awards.

In 1983 Pete became involved with the Union Pacific Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps from Omaha, Nebraska, working as their brass caption head and arranger. For the next five years, Pete helped with the transition of the corps from a parade corps to a Drum Corps International Class A Finalist. More importantly, while Pete was in Omaha, he met his future wife, Cheri Curran. They were married in 1987.
From 1988 to 1990, Pete was the Director of Bands at Lake Highlands Junior High School and earned a “Best-In-Class” award at the Six Flags Invitational Band Contest in 1990. Pete enjoyed his time at Lake Highlands Junior High but in the summer of 1990, Robert Floyd and Greg Hames convinced Pete to return to high school teaching by offering him an assistant position at Berkner High School, a position he held for 16 years. Working first with Robert Floyd and then with Mike Brashear, this time was full of many accomplishments, musical memories and lasting friendships. Among the distinguished accomplishments were performances at the Mid-West Clinic in 1990 and 2000, a TMEA Honor Band concert in 1991, and multiple Best In Class awards in both concert and marching competitions. In 1997, Pete became the director of the Symphonic Band II at Berkner. As director, the band earned UIL sweepstakes annually as well as several Best-In-Class awards, while performing challenging music that Pete called "pushing the envelope," a concept he learned from his childhood band directors. The Symphonic Band II performed such works as Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony for Band, Frank Ticheli’s Postcard, Johannes Brahm’s Academic Festival Overture and Joaquin Turina’s La Procession du Rocio. In 2001, the Symphonic Band II was invited to perform at the Spring Conference on Wind and Percussion Music at Western Michigan University, Pete’s alma mater. They were the first and only “second band” to be invited to play at this conference. In 2002, Pete was selected as a RISE Foundation Teacher Award winner, recognizing the top ten teachers in the Richardson Independent School District. During his time in the Berkner cluster, he worked with master teachers as well as great colleagues including Robert Floyd, Mike Brashear, Greg Hames, Jerry Brumbaugh, Bob Straka, Tim Andersen, Jennifer McAllister, Jed Weeks, Amy Johnson, Jacob Garlinger, Bob Chreste, Michael Reed, Danielle Alice, Mickey Owens, and Robin Owens.

In 2006, Pete began to worry about being in a different stadium on Friday nights than his daughters, who were attending school in Plano. He was truly fortunate to have the opportunity to join Travis Smith at Williams High School that fall. Not only did he get a chance to share in his daughters’ band experiences, the new position presented new challenges that he was glad to accept. While at Williams, his Symphonic Band was a UIL sweepstakes winner every year and he took the first Concert Band in the school’s history to UIL, earning a sweepstakes award in 2010. In the East cluster of Plano in addition to Travis Smith, he enjoyed working with Evelio and Abbey Villarreal, Jana Harvey, John Brennan, Nick Seibert, Nicki Diaz, Annette Mitchell, Derek Phillips, and Mark Caspersen. Pete retired in 2012 after thirty-eight years of teaching.

Since retiring, Pete has thoroughly enjoyed being able to clinic bands and mentor young band directors in the North Texas area as well as adjudicating UIL events in concert- sightreading and marching. He is very involved with the music ministry at his church, Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano where provides leadership for the Orchestra, Brass Ensemble, and the Jazz INC Big Band.
Pete has served on the State Board of TMEA as the President, Vice-President and Secretary of Region III and has served on the UIL Music Advisory Committee as the Region III Band Chair. He also served as an All-Region audition organizer primarily setting up judging panels for both Region III and XXV. Pete has presented clinics at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention including a session for the TBA Academy for New Band Directors, as well as at several school district in-service sessions. Pete is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Kappa Kappa Psi National Band Fraternity, Phi Beta Mu International and Phi Mu Alpha – Sinfonia.

Pete and Cheri have two daughters, a son-in-law and a granddaughter. Both daughters were in band and both are now teachers. Emily currently teaches AP World History and AP Art History at McKinney High School and Haley is the head band director at Nolan Ryan Junior High School in Alvin ISD. Pete would like to thank Evelio Villarreal for his nomination as well as Barbara Lambrecht and the Hall of Fame Committee for his selection and is very grateful for this high honor of being inducted into the Phi Beta Mu - Alpha Chapter Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame. He thanks his former teachers, students, parents, colleagues, and family who made his career possible.