We’ve all heard of the New Year’s Rose Bowl parade, but what you may not know is that this year a member of the parade’s marching band was proudly representing our own school.
New Year’s Day, Beaver Area High School senior Rebecca Mizer performed with the Bands of America association and marched in the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California.
“Last January—my junior year—my clarinet teacher told me about this really cool ensemble with Bands of America and Music for All,” said Becca. “Bands of America is an organization most known for hosting bands that do competitions, like marching bands. They host Grand Nationals, which is a really big marching band competition.”
“I only had a week and a half to prepare for the audition, so I was like, ‘Well, I may as well try; we’ll see what happens,’ and then I found out I got in,” Becca said.
Instrumental achievement is not something with which Becca is unfamiliar. She’s been participating in Pennsylvania Music Education Association festivals since middle school. This year in her PMEA Regional Orchestra audition Becca achieved the highest score of her section and took first chair for the clarinets. Becca will advance to the PMEA All-State festival in April at Kalahari Resorts.
“I’ve been playing clarinet since fifth grade. I’ve been in marching band since eighth grade. I’ve been drum major for two years, and sophomore year I was the clarinet section leader,” Becca said. “Marching band is just so fun because it has a much more social aspect than concert band. You get to communicate a lot more with not only the people around you, but people in other sections. Especially when you're doing field shows and parade walks, you’re not always with people of the same instrument.”
Becca explained that the Rose Bowl band met over Zoom several times throughout the year after auditions so they could hold rehearsals before they had the chance to meet in person. She said that the participants had a few assignments to turn in over the year as well.
“December 26, I left the Pittsburgh airport and flew to California,” Becca said. “We flew from Pittsburgh to Texas, and then to Los Angeles. The very first thing we did when we checked in on Monday was get fitted for our uniforms. We had only seen sketches of them, and they looked so cool in person!”
Becca and her fellow performers sported red and white uniforms for the Rose Bowl parade. They also were provided with blue and white uniforms for additional performances at Disneyland.
“For the most part it was cold and rainy, but everyone was just so excited to be there. We had a couple outdoor rehearsals for the first few days. We went to Santa Monica Pier and I got to touch the Pacific Ocean. We were originally supposed to participate in Band Fest, which is a big show for all the bands participating in the Rose Bowl—we unfortunately couldn’t participate in that [due to weather] so we actually got to watch the new Spider Man movie!” Becca said. “They rented out an entire theater for, like, 320 kids. I’d actually never seen the other two [Spiderman movies] so I didn’t really know what was going on, but it was still a really good movie.”
The band spent one day performing at Disneyland, but after New Year’s they were able to go back and spend another day enjoying themselves.
“I’d never been to any Disney parks,” said Becca. “I got to meet some characters, ride a lot of rides.”
“December 31 was New Year’s Eve; we had our last practice that day, and then we had a New Year’s Eve party which was super fun. We celebrated New Year’s on Eastern time, so in California it was actually 9 p.m. We had a wake up call at 3 a.m.,” Becca explained.
The band woke up the next morning for a uniform inspection in their hotel lobby at 3:45, then left to arrive at the parade site shortly before 5 a.m. where they waited until the parade started at 8 a.m.
“We marched for two and a half hours, and it was the most supportive crowd I have ever been a part of. They would cheer for specific instruments sections—the clarinets got a lot of shoutouts—which just encouraged you even more. People would make signs that said ‘half a mile to go!’ and seeing that support definitely gave you a boost of confidence,” Becca explained.
The Rose Bowl parade route is over five miles long, and the band was performing the entire distance.
“For the most part, the parade route is straight. However, there’s this really famous turn at the very beginning called TV Corner where most of the cameras are located. It’s a really big deal for the participating bands because you have to keep your lines perfectly straight even while turning. We spent hours rehearsing that two-minute turn!” said Becca.
In the midst of what she referred to as the “blur of playing,” Becca recalls the moment when she turned TV Corner and saw the NBC logo.
“I even got the best spot in the parade lineup. I was right on the end on the TV side, so you can easily see me in a lot of recordings. My friends even sent me pictures of me from their TV!” Becca said.
“At the end, we rounded a corner, someone said that was the end, and we all erupted in cheers. People were hugging each other and laying on the ground from exhaustion,” said Becca. “It was very emotional. I felt extremely proud of myself for what I had accomplished. I never would have thought I could march 5.5 miles!”
Becca named the people with whom she had had the opportunity to work as the most meaningful part of her trip.
“Everyone was so dedicated and excited to be there. Our incredible music director, [Mr.] Richard Saucedo guided us through the whole week and taught us not only the notes but how to put emotion into the music. He would say things like, ‘I don’t want to hear trumpets playing the melody, I want to hear the melody.’ That’s really what set the band over the top,” Becca said.
“It was really fun. I've never been a part of a band that big, and I probably never will again.”
In the afterglow of her experience, Becca wants to encourage anyone considering auditioning for this program to do so.
“The ensemble happens every four years. Next time it pops up, please audition. It is a life-changing experience. You’ll play music that challenges you, but it’s really enjoyable,” Becca said. “I cannot recommend it enough.”
