“Michigan State University’s original music man, Professor Leonard Falcone, took a military band and transformed it over the years into a trend-setting marching machine and a concert band par excellence, and in so doing, he influenced music around the world. The biography of this passionate and consummate Director of Bands at Michigan State University is a must-read for anyone who ever watched a Spartan Marching Band halftime show or listened to one of his unique concert performances. And if you did neither, this is still a must-read because there was only one Professor Leonard Falcone, and there will never be another.”

Tim Skubick
Hall of Fame broadcaster, former voice of the Spartan Marching Band, MSU Concert Band first clarinet (1963-67)

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About the author Rita Griffin Comstock

In her youth, Rita Comstock played clarinet in the Michigan State University Concert Band under Leonard Falcone. She continues to play her instrument in various community bands. After graduating from Michigan State in 1968 and the University of Michigan in 1970 with degrees in English, she worked as a writer for Prentice-Hall before becoming a mother to three children, Edward, Mary, and James. For 18 years Rita taught English at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, Virginia. Currently, she is an examiner for the International Baccalaureate program, a grandmother to Lilly and Joshua, and a resident of Sudbury, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband Ed, former Chief Naval Architect of the United States Navy.