Daily Cardinal LTE couldn’t be more wrong. Leckrone should stick around for another couple of decades.

Edit – Please view this post at its new location

The Daily Cardinal letter to the editor today by Howard Bregman calling for Mike Leckrone, the director of the UW Marching Band to step down one was one of the most ill-informed, out of touch things I have potentially ever heard. I say this as a freshman member of the band speaking from my experiences with the band and Mike. I feel as though almost every point made in the article needs to be rebutted and so the most effective way to respond is point by point. Therefore without further ado, on to the line by line….

I had the opportunity to attend the Mike Leckrone Spring Concert this past weekend. Well, I suppose it was actually the Wisconsin Band Spring Concert, but one could have mistaken the band for an instrument of and a backdrop for Mr. Leckrone’s ego.

To claim that Mike has an ego based upon a single concert demonstrates the lack of knowledge about the band on the part of the author. Also, the Spring Concert provides the most money for the band of anything we do and allows us to go on trips, of which we get to choose the destination, like our one last fall to Las Vegas.

One has to be reminded that the star of this event is nominally an organization of students. Yet only a single band member was recognized by name. And on this, the night of their final public performance, no graduating seniors were recognized. Stunningly, the band was never directed to stand as a unit to accept applause while Mr. Leckrone took his bows. Such behavior at a professional orchestra would raise eyebrows, let alone at a student concert.

First, while only 1 band member may have been recognized by name, this is part of Mike’s philosophy when it comes to directing the band. He doesn’t like to single out individuals. His least 2 favorite times of the year are having to pick a drum major and having to cut people. On the Ohio State trip he commented to us that if we had a tradition like having a tuba player dot the “i” they would never be singled out with the name recognition the same way Ohio State does. It’s part of a philosophy. Think of it like the New England Patriots being introduced as a team at the Super Bowl the year they beat the Rams. Its a team concept. The final night of performance by the seniors was in fact the Saturday night performance and the last thing Mike did was have them stand up and have the audience give them a round of applause. The only night the band did not stand to accept applause was Thursday. We stood for applause when we were announced in the next two performances, a change to the show that was made by Mike himself. Even if the band never stood for applause we all know that when people applaud him we are really included in that applause. Just like when the captains of a football team accept a championship trophy. He is just the figurehead of the band and we all know that.

And yet we were treated to seeing Mr. Leckrone taking the baton from the band’s Assistant Director, Ernest Jennings – who served as a stand- in conductor for the very few times when Mr. Leckrone was not front and center – without a word of public thanks or recognition. We saw two home-made videos, one cast with him exclusively and the other with students, but with him back again at the finale. And in a scene that can only be described as grotesque, the American flag was marched in by an ROTC unit, not to be saluted, but to be used as a prop; because at the same time Mr. Leckrone was suspended by a wire, doing back flips while sailing over the audience. It was clear which spectacle was supposed to get the greater attention.

As opposed to Mike stopping to thank Ernest for conducting after every song? That would have been entirely unnecessary. Just like stopping to recognize Mike or the band after each song. Ernest was recognized at the end of the show. The first video may have been about Mike. So what? I thought the video was a very fitting introduction to the show that managed to entertain me all 3 nights. To say Mike was anything but a minor part of the second video would be a lie. The video was the introduction to the drumline feature, a part of the show I might add where Mike was not present in person at all, and was a spoof of the movie 300, featuring the drumline instead of the Spartans. Mike was in the video for about 5 seconds and was played the part mocking the evil Persian emperor Xerxes. As for the flag and the ROTC unit, this was during a portion of the show while the band was playing an arrangement of “Americans We” with fireworks going off, confetti dropping form the rafters and Mike flying around. Clearly designed to be part of a celebration of America. Every display of the American flag does not have to in a solemn honorary setting.Celebrating America by doing backflips hardly seems “grotesque.”

It is time for Mr. Leckrone to retire, or to be retired. No one should direct an artistic organization for 40 years, no matter his accomplishments. The fact that he has survived this long is evidence either of the strength of his cult of personality, or of the fact that the university leaders simply do not care enough about the band. They would tolerate no similar tenure of a football or basketball coach, even more so because at its best the band has been no better than 3rd best in the Big Ten.

Mike is still around because he is one of the most capable band leaders anywhere in the country, even at age 72 and going on his 40th year. Believe it or not there were several band directors from unnamed west coast colleges who had heard about our Spring Concert and had come to see it in hopes of replicating something similar at their own schools. As for school officials forcing Mike to retire. I laugh that you think the university leaders have such control. If anyone ever even tried fired Mike I believe the backlash would be unlike anything this school has ever seen. I would guess that the majority of the band would quit in protest probably leaving us with no band at all. Not to mention the backlash from donors to the athletic department and the school in general. There are 39 years of band alumni who would probably be pretty angry. Not to mention the number of people who just are fans of the band in general. To say that we wouldn’t tolerate such a long tenure from a football or basketball coach is to ignore several striking examples from the world of college sports. Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden come to mind. No school ever forces out beloved heads of their sports teams, even after decades, even if they’ve been there way too long. To suggest that somehow the band would be better off with another director is asinine. It is an objective fact that there could be no better director of the Wisconsin band at this moment than Mike Leckrone. Ask any band member.

Words cannot describe how incorrect the last part of the last sentence is. To suggest that the UW Band is only the 3rd best in the Big Ten clearly shows a lack of understanding of anything about marching bands and a lack of school pride. First of all there are no college marching band rankings and even if there were, who is to say they would be correct. Just look at how flawed the BCS is, and they get to at least have objective winners of each matchup. College bands are performing by themselves at most halftime shows, save the 1 or 2 roadtrips a year plus a potential bowl game. As a member of the band I can’t tell you how many times people have come up and told me we were the best band they had ever seen. At the Outback Bowl Tennessee fans openly told us we were better than their band, one of the most well respected bands in the country and the SEC. Also having seen the OSU band in person when we traveled to the game this year, I don’t think its fair to compare our two bands. We each have such different styles that there really is no valid comparison, we each have things they clearly do better than the other.

One only has to reflect on the most telling moment of the concert this past Friday, when Mr. Leckrone took the baton from Mr. Jennings after floating in a second time from the Kohl Center rafters, and remarked “Let’s not forget whose bande this is.” Well, it is he who has forgotten. The band belongs first to the students of the University, and perhaps even to the people of Wisconsin. But it is certainly not his personal property.

Seriously, can’t you take a joke. If you didn’t think Mike’s comment was funny then don’t laugh. No matter who the band “belongs” to, the director is in control and Mike is the director.

There is no question that in the 39 years of his tenure, Mr. Leckrone has re-invented the band, and turned it into something simply brand new. But the halftime music at football games is outdated. The formations are tired. The drum major, the supposed leader of the band, is nothing more than a baton twirler in Mr. Leckrone’s shadow, be it on the field or in the pre-game concerts at Union South, where no one gets the microphone or center stage except the band director.

That first sentence might be the only decent thing written in the article. I’m sorry that Justin Timberlake and 50 Cent don’t exactly translate well into marching band music. I think playing music that’s not neccessarily your favorite is a small price to pay for such an excellent director. We play a wide variety of some music and some of the best ever written, take the Rolling Stones and West Side Story shows for example. The drum major is definitely a leader in the band. Notice how Rachel blows the whistle to start the band marching on the field? She’s the first one on the field for pregame. Her name and hometown are announced while she high steps out and the band stands still before she leads the band down the field. Mike’s name is announced once at halftime to the same basic introduction that every marching band you ever see will use “… and now, under the direction of Professor Michael Leckrone, the University of Wisconsin Marching Baaaand.” Rachel is by far a bigger feature of the halftime shows than Mike ever is. As for at Union South, no drum major of any band you will ever see will introduce the songs. Besides Mike has a great stage presence that I think really adds to the performances of the band.

Has he done anything to prepare for the transition to a new director, should his advancing age force him to step aside? The only time he does not lead the band at a football, basketball, or hockey game is when he has a more important game to attend. Mr. Jennings is relegated to volleyball. One would reasonably expect someone else to be given a shot at least 1 of every 4 or 5 big games.

First of all, Ernest is new this year. He had to be caught up to speed on the basics of how we do things here. Expecting him to take any kind of lead role in a band he has been a part of for less than the majority of the members would be entirely unrealistic. That being said he really has done a great job this year. Once again you demonstrate a lack of understanding of how bands work. The director is the director. Its not a part time job that you slowly transfer over to someone else. Think of it as the head coach of a football team. During Barry Alvarez’s last year, should he have stepped aside to let someone else get some practice head coaching? Of course not. Bands work in a pretty similar way. Besides, Ernest has directed several bands throughout his career. He is perfectly qualified as he stands right now to direct just about any band in the country including this one. He leads the drumline practices and directs at least one concert band within the School of Music. Any kind of transition steps would be entirely unnecessary.

There are undoubtedly many who worship this man, and he probably deserves some of it. But what he does not deserve is full personal control of the band and, by extension, control of the many dedicated student musicians. There is simply no reason that this band should not be challenging the bands of Ohio State and Michigan for supremacy. What that requires is someone who is fearful for his job; someone who knows that unless he moves the marker forward, he might be replaced. “On Wisconsin” demands change.

Hold on there Barack Obama. I can safely say in this instance change would be a terrible idea. First of all there is no reason the director shouldn’t have full control of the band. That’s how it works and for good reason. I think to say that our band does not challenge the bands of Ohio State and Michigan is not only an insult to everyone associated with our band program but a flat out lie. We are very comparable to both of those bands. Take it from someone who has seen all 3 perform. To say that Mike needs to be fearful for his job in order to perform proficiently is an insult not only to him but to competent people everywhere. It is possible for people to do an amazing job without the fear of being replaced. Having potentially one of the most secure jobs in the state of Wisconsin does not stop him from coming to practice each day with more fire, intensity and passion that I did as someone who was competing on a daily basis just to keep a spot on the field. You have no idea about the amount of work he puts in to make this band what it is today. He writes or arranges just about every song we play and writes every drill we march. I can’t even imagine the number of hours he puts in to make the Spring Concert the success it is every year.

We do not need to suffer through the ego trip of Mr. Leckrone’s 40th year at Wisconsin and another self-serving spring concert. His retirement, and the eventual ascension of Mr. Jennings or another deserving candidate, should be forthcoming.

Sorry, this has been a much longer response than I intended it to be originally, but I feel like the general student population doesn’t realize what a great director we have for our marching band and I couldn’t allow people as ignorant and stupid on the subject to go unanswered.

Edit: Kristina Hemstead’s responsive LTE the next day