In the fall of 1934 an Assistant Band Director from the University of Illinois was hired to lead the University of Wisconsin Band program. His name - Raymond Francis Dvorak!

Due to Ray Dvorak's half-time presentation innovations, the last half of the 1930's saw the establishment of the Wisconsin Marching Band on a national basis. According to the University of Wisconsin News Service - "Professor Raymond F. Dvorak has developed many 'firsts' in the field of band pageantry at athletic contests, especially football games. He developed the singing band, mass singing, formations without signals and animated formations.

He originated the airplane band formation with sound effects; the formation of the score immediately after the game; flank and oblique movements in formations; and the singing of 'salute' songs to the competitors." It was Dvorak, in 1934, who established the now famous "arm-swinging" during the singing of Varsity. Both bands, marching and concert, paid tributes to national heroes, university dignitaries, sports figures and always found the proper music to celebrate significant events in the history of the university, city, state and nation.

There were many significant events that occurred during Dvorak's early tenure as Director of Bands. In the fall of 1939 women first appeared with the Concert Band, though the Marching Band remained an entirely male organization. The fall of 1940 saw the Band take its first major trip since the 1915 Band made the trek to San Francisco when they visited New York City. Another beloved tradition was the bonfire held on the lower campus on Homecoming Eve. It featured Wisconsin songs and cheers and speeches by coaches and was ultimately followed by a Marching Band concert called "Echoes From Camp Randall." In 1947, Ray decided to do something more ambitious. He produced a state show in the Memorial Union Theatre which played two evenings to sell-out audiences (not dissimilar to the Spring Concerts held today).

Then, on April 14, 1948, the train Ray Dvorak was riding in was hit broadside by a truck loaded with sand. He suffered the loss of his right arm, nearly lost his left leg and was severely burned. In the summer of 1948 a great deal of uncertainty prevailed at the University in regard to Ray Dvorak's future ...