University Archives & Historical Collections

Falcone reintroduced open-air concert performances to the College in 1930. These events proved very popular, and by 1934 the band was performing before audiences as large as 3,000. The band made 54 public appearances in 1930-1931. While accompanying the Spartan Football team to Georgetown University in Washington D.C., the band had the opportunity to perform on the White House lawn for President Hoover on October 31, 1930.

In 1935, Nicholas was forced to take medical leave for one month from his position as director of the University of Michigan Band. Leonard agreed to take over his brother's responsibilities for this month. The treatment, however, became prolonged, and for one year Leonard maintained full duties as band director for both institutions.

With the ever-increasing popularity of the M.S.C. band open-air concerts, a donation from the graduating class of 1937 of $2,500 made it possible to construct the Band Shell in 1938. In 1941 M.S.C. hosted the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association's State Festival where the Band performed its first concert in a newly constructed auditorium during the event which attracted crowds of 5,000.

During WWII, Falcone opted to enlist into the army to avoid being drafted mid-term. But by October 1943 Falcone had returned full-time to the College and resumed his duties as director and professor. It was during this period that the Concert Band, due to the depleted numbers of male members, recruited female players. This remained unchanged after the war, as woman became active members in the music community. But, since women could not be members of the marching band, the Concert band and the Marching Band became separate units in 1946.

On Sunday, December 19, 1948, Leonard married Miss Betty Beryl Cromer, a high school teacher who met Leonard while a graduate student performing in the Concert Band. They had two daughters: Mary Beryl, born August 6, 1950, and Cecilia, born May 25, 1952. On January 17, 1953 Falcone celebrated his twenty-fifth anniversary as Director of MSU Bands at a large banquet held in his honor.

The Concert Band began a series of successful tours in 1951, most notably the "Cap and Gown" series which commenced in 1954. Falcone was eager to bring the same high regard had by the Concert Band to the Marching Band. This attention soon came with M.S.C.'s 1953 entrance into the Big Ten Competition, and the football team's bid to the 1954 Rose Bowl. The Michigan State University Marching Band performed in the 1954 Rose Bowl, as well as the 1956 Rose Bowl, which was televised across the nation.

In 1960, the Band Shell was demolished to make way for Ernst Bessey Hall and the adjacent parking ramp. Although reassurances were made that a new open-air venue would be constructed for the Concert Band performances, the plans never came into fruition, and subsequently the attendance for the outdoor concerts diminished as the seasonal performances moved from site to site with no fixed location.

Nevertheless, in 1964 the Marching Band represented the State of Michigan during Michigan Week Activities at the New York World's Fair. In1965 the Band once more represented the State during Lyndon B. Johnson's Inaugural Parade, as well as made a third trip to the Rose Bowl.