By George Zeliff
Mail

The marching band, orchestra and chorus departments at Desert Mountain High School are going back to London for the London New Year’s Parade and Festival on Jan. 1, 2025.

The Wolves have participated five times before, and they will spend a week performing in concert halls and touring historic sites.

Bob Bone, founder of the London parade, and Duncan Sandys, great-grandson of Winston Churchill, presented the invitations inside the Desert Mountain auditorium Thursday, Nov. 10. The fine arts departments performed for them and other guests beforehand.

The Wolves last went to London in 2018 but try to go every four years so students have at least one chance to play in the parade. Families, including siblings, are welcome to go as well. 

“I went the last time the marching band went, and it was a really fun experience,” junior tuba player Zac Gropman said. “I got to see them do it, and to actually be able to do it myself is exciting.”

According to Bone, there are 76 acts from an average of 20-22 countries in the parade, and around 8,500 people participate each year. The parade will be broadcast across the United States on PBS, and approximately 340 million homes around the world tune in to watch each year.

“We poll our audiences every year, bit of audience research to find out what people like best,” Bone told the Wolves. “And you know, the answer always comes back, and this is perfectly true, the number one favorite thing in the parade are the American high school, college and university marching bands that we bring over every year. Sixteen of the best, and you’re going to be one of them.”

The choir and orchestra will contribute to the festival by playing in prestigious concert halls throughout the week with other musicians around the globe. They will pass out flags, hold balloons and walk with the band in the parade.

Sandys, former Lord Mayor of Westminster, described the 2.2-mile parade route. Some of the landmarks he outlined include starting at the London Ritz Hotel, passing the residence of the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street and finishing by Parliament Square.

“I don’t know how they first came out here, but they do reach out to a bunch of schools, and they speak with us,” director of bands Bryan Hummel said. “We, of course, have the reputation of going there, so that’s what got us in. This is my fifth year at Desert Mountain. I started in 2019, but this is my first invitation to go. I’m very excited.”

The students will be immersed in culture, and visit museums, historic sites and places of artistic interest. They were also warned that the winter weather In London would be much different from Arizona.

Before they left, Bone and Sandys gifted Desert Mountain with a commemorative, limited edition plate from the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which happened earlier this year on May 6.