Bulldogs Band to March in New Year's Parade in London

By Charity Corkey (Contact)

Monday, December 29, 2008

Invited on behalf of the Festival Patrons, including Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for Greater London and the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the Stone Bridge Marching Bulldogs will participate in one of the world's largest New Year's celebrations.

The Ashburn school's marching band flew to England over the weekend to prepare for their performance in London's 22nd New Year's Day Parade.

"We were actually first invited two years ago in the fall," said Stone Bridge High School Band Director David Keller. "One of the [parade] representatives saw us at a football game, and they asked if we would be interested."

The band asked if they could defer the invitation until 2009 in order to raise funds. Over the course of 2008 they raised around $2,500 with a car wash, a bake sale, a letter-writing campaign to local businesses, and sales on wreathes and fruit.

The fundraising money will put a dent in the cost for the 95 students flying to London, who each needed around $2,800.

"He raised some of it," said Mary Stafford of her son Charley, a marching band student, "but the parents were responsible for paying for most of it."

In spite of the cost, Stafford was elated at the trip's musical and education opportunities.

"I'm sitting in the band room now, and the walls are covered with educational material about the history of England," she said. "And this parade, it's like the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade in the United States."

The band members flew to London Saturday, Dec. 27, to prep for the parade, which will pass by many of London's historical landmarks, including Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament. Last year, the event attracted 500,000 people in London and nearly 200 million television viewers.

Among the pieces the Marching Bulldogs will perform is an excerpt of Beethoven's "9th Symphony" and "Trepak" by Tchaikovsky.

Then on Jan. 2, the Stone Bridge High School concert band and jazz ensemble will be the feature performers in a concert at St. John's, Smith Square in London.

During their trip, the students will also tour London and its historical landmarks.

"We're seeing 'Wicked,' the musical, and we have tours," said Stone Bridge High School senior Andrew Krupacs, of Lansdowne. "The one I'm in is going to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye."

Charley Stafford of Ashburn, a sophomore at Stone Bridge, plans on touring the British museum.

"It's going to be a great time there," he said. "I'm probably going to remember this for the rest of my life."

Click here for information on local television coverage of the London parade.

Tagged: 2008 Holiday Season, holiday, marching band, New Year's, schools, Stone Bridge High School, travel

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