One sure sign of spring is the annual UW Varsity Band Concert! This year's theme is “We've Done It Our Way.” The Badger Band will salute the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra during the concert, but the theme serves another purpose, too.
“This band is unique, and we wanted to point that out,” says longtime director Mike Leckrone. “It's not just our sound or marching style, but the annual concert, too. No other band puts on an extravaganza like this.”
The Badger Band's 42nd annual concert will be part circus, part pep rally, with pyrotechnics, aerial stunts and state-of-the art multimedia displays. There will also be hand-clapping Badger ballads and special guests, such as vocalist Raychel Wilson, an eighth-grade student at Osceola Middle School.
The event will feature music of Simon and Garfunkel, a tribute to The Eagles, and the band's own version of “Les Miserables,” in honor of the record-breaking musicals return to Broadway.
The Badger Band is a one-credit class at the UW School of Music. Its 300-plus members perform at football, hockey, basketball and other UW sports events. They play a matched set of brass instruments, and Leckrone arranges every piece of its music, rewriting them to suit the band's iconic style.
“If you've never been to the concert, you have no idea how big it is,” he says. “It's like an indoor Fifth Quarter, and we have plenty of seats for everyone.”
The 2016 Varsity Band Concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 14 through 16, at the Kohl Center in Madison. For more information or to order tickets, call (608) 265-4120 or visit badgerband.com.
