Dr. Timothy P. Lentz was one of the most renouned high school choral directors in Michigan, if not the entire United States.

Dr. Lentz, commonly known as "TL", retired at the end of the 2006 school year after the 2006 Rochester Summer Music Theatre Program came to an end. TL was a teacher for Rochester Community Schools for more than 30 years; although most of those years were spent changing student's lives through his love of music and theatre. TL's accomplishments include: receiving his BS in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University, his secondary certificate in Math at Wayne State, and his certification in Music at Oakland University. He received his MA and his PhD in Theatre and Dramatic Music Literature at Wayne State University. He was selected as a State Finalist for the 1982 Michigan Teacher of the Year, has led workshops on musical theatre at MSVMA's annual choral directors conference, has been listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers three times and is currently Michigan Opera Theatre's archivist and historian - And will forever be an idol in his students' eyes.

Leaving with Dr. Lentz is Mrs. Carol Portice, one of the best accompanists of her time. She received her Bachelor of Music with Distinction from the Eastman School of Music, the University of Rochester. Mrs. Portice is also the Director of Music for University Presbyterian Church in Rochester Hills and is an active member of several professional organizations including The American Guild of Organists, The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, the Sacred Dance Guild and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. She has continued her education at Westminster Choir College, the Choristers Guild National Seminar and studied with several notable teachers including David Willcocks.

Dr. Lentz and the Adams Vocal Music Department have been very active in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA). He was supervisor of the State Solo & Ensemble Festival for two years and served on MSVMA's executive board as Treasurer for eighteen years. Adams' ensembles and choirs have consistently received top ratings at festivals and they are especially proud of the high level of participation at solo and ensemble festivals and in the Honors Choir program. The Men's Ensemble has performed at Ensemble Finals and Adams has placed soloists in the Youth Arts Solo Finals eight times. Dr. Lentz has directed fifty major musicals as director of the Adams High School annual musical and Rochester's Summer Music Theatre. He has also technical directed or produced over forty non-musical productions with Rochester Community Schools.

Some of Dr. Lentz's Teachings:
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A CLASS ACT

A class person is someone who touches humanity with compassion, who partakes of problems and suffering and does it with grace and charm. It is someone who is sensitized to others' needs, who helps without taking bows for doing it.

Don't confuse class with style. Stylish people have taste, flair and a sense of fashion. A classy person is someone who has no ego, who does everything he can to advance the quality of life, who gives unstintingly of himself.

Class speaks of character and an inner life as well as an outer life. When someone brings both together, unifying standards, principles and values, then they are class people.

Many have money and opportunities, yet never will be class people.

Class combines a sense of character and quality with glamour and achievement.

Class is personality and spirit. It is something that one builds into one's life. The class person never lets you down. They are consistently cool under pressure.

They have elegance, the ability to cope well in any given situation. They never demean anyone, no matter their station in life.

A class person is one who has inner security, who never attempts to be the center of attention - but is because of the force of their personality.

The above are quotes by prominent Detroiters from an article in the News titled "Who in Detroit has class?" by Eleanor Breitmeyer.

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Music is a Science It is exact, specific, and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor's full score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.

Music is a Foreign Language Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French; and the notation is certainly not English—but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

Music is Mathematical It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.

Music is History Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation, often even the country and/or racial feeling.

Music is Physical Education It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lips, cheek and facial muscles, in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragm, back, stomach and chest muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.

Music is all these things, but most of all, Music is Art It allows a human being to take all these dry, technically boring – but difficult – techniques and use them to create emotion. That is one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, call it what you will.

That is why we teach music!


The four pillars of the Adams Choirs are discipline, patience, tradition and love. They hold and support the music we make and strengthen us in song.

TL will always hold a special place in our hearts, and we love him for all he has done; not only for us, but for the world.