Mike Leckrone is legendary as the unbound band director at the University of Wisconsin. In the band’s annual spring concerts, which draw rock-star levels of crowds, Mr. Leckrone has dropped onto the stage on a bungee cord, ridden a bicycle down a wire, slid down a firefighter pole, driven in on a motorcycle, arrived on a wedge of cheese and flown in on a cow that flipped in midair.
“I tell the kids it’s supposed to be fun, but not fun at the expense of other people,” said Mr. Leckrone, who’s been a director for 39 of his 72 years.