The MSU Alumni Band Association was formed by Ken Bloomquist (Director of Bands Emeritus) in 1970. Since then we have been meeting regularly in both the Fall and the Spring to provide an opportunity for band alumni - young and old - to join together in musical performances and commaraderie reflective of the wonderful spirit of MSU Bands. In addition, the MSU Alumni Band regularly travels abroad to entertain foreign audiences with the exceptional quality of our alumni musicians.

Some of the activities of the MSU Alumni Band:

Our Fall Reunion is at one of the MSU home football games. We assemble bright and early, proceed through both an indoor concert rehearsal and an outdoor marching rehearsal, and then march to the stadium to present a marching band show that Spartan fans love!

An annual Golf Outing and an evening Dinner and Social Hour have now been added to the exciting Fall Reunion Weekend. Both provide wonderful informal opportunities to meet good friends and share great stories of playing in the MSU Bands.

The Spring Reunion features the MSU Alumni Band in concert with one of the regular MSU bands. Sharing half of the concert, the MSU Alumni Band presents standard band repertoire to an appreciative audience at the magnificent Wharton Center on the MSU campus.

We regularly participate in the MSU Homecoming Parade and also marched in the MSU Sesquicentennial Parade.

And don't forget basketball! Annually we provide an Alumni Pep Band for MSU Men's and Women's basketball games during the December holiday period when the regular MSU Pep Band is not available.

We have provided an Alumni Pep Band for the annual Great Lakes Invitational Hockey Tournament held each December in Detroit - plus other events throughout the state.

The MSU Alumni Band has been recognized by the MSU Alumni Association with a cooperative relationship and designated as a Special Interest Group. MSU band alumni wanting to join the MSU Alumni Association can do so by printing, completing, and mailing this specially coded application form.

The MSU Alumni Touring Band heads to exotic locations outside of the United States once every three years. Each trip includes a combination of travel, sightseeing and concert performances in such countries as Hungary, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, Great Britain, and...

Stay in touch via Encore - our regular Newsletter. Join together to help support our projects to commission new music for concert bands. Help in the creation of a state-of-the-art practice facility for all of the MSU Bands - the Wind Symphony, the Symphony Band, the Concert Band, the Campus Band, the Athletic Bands, and the Spartan Marching Band. Be proud of the tradition of the MSU Bands and your link to it!

An important part of the MSU Alumni Band is the support of the MSU bands and bands worldwide through the regular commissioning of original compositions for band.

Two annual $1000 scholarships are underwritten by the Alumni Band and awarded to MSU students who participate with an MSU band (The Bloomquist Scholarship in the Fall Semester, The Whitwell Scholarship in the Spring Semester).

How about a batch of new instruments? We presented to the Spartan Marching Band a complete section of new silver trombones.

Working in conjunction with the MSU Museum we helped in the creation of the MSU Bands Exhibit that traced the history of the MSU Bands.

You may have seen the MSU Alumni Band in a television advertisement encouraging MSU alums to join the MSU Alumni Association (shown regularly on the Big Ten Network).

You were a part of the greatest university band program in the country. Now you can be a part of the greatest alumni band association in the country. Join the MSU Alumni Band Association and help keep the tradition alive. Click here for a membership form.

All activities of the MSU Alumni Band are open to any person who participated in any way with any of the MSU bands. Need to update your membership information with the MSU Alumni Band Association? Use this simple form. For additional information about membership in the Association, please get in touch with the Executive Secretary (alumband@msu.edu).