Commonwealth University bands perform in New Year's Day Parade in London

By invitation of The King of England, Commonwealth University bands were invited to perform in the London New Year's Day Parade and Celebrations from December 28 to Jan. 4.

Students in CU-Mansfield's bands - The Spirit & The Pride of PA Marching Band and the Mansfield Concert Wind Ensemble, as well as members of the Lock Haven and Bloomsburg bands and color guard performed in the New Year's Day parade to ring in the new year. More than 600,000 people lined the parade route and the parade was broadcast on television to an audience of approximately 6 billion viewers.

A total of 69 performers traveled to London, along with four staff members. Six students from Lock Haven and 10 students from Bloomsburg joined the 47 students from Mansfield who made up the core of the group. In addition, six Mansfield alumni rejoined their alma mater. Staff members included director of bands, Dr. Adam F. Brennan and his wife, Jonelle and Eric and Wendy Griffin, alumni staff assistants and former LNYDP participants.

Through the recommendation of Eric and Wendy Griffin, the committee responsible for the London event contacted the band to participate in the parade, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A formal invitation by official presentation was then made in October 2022, setting things in motion. As this was in the first year of the full integration of Commonwealth University, Brennan had the idea to extend the invitation to members of Mansfield's sister institutions, Bloomsburg and Lock Haven, to perform with them. 

"Because our efforts also included participation from students at Lock Haven and Bloomsburg, we needed to carefully plan and prepare a minimal number of rehearsals to prepare the students," Brennan said. 

With four rehearsals, all held at Mansfield on Sunday afternoons, the students memorized music and flag and guard routines. The wind ensemble rehearsed together twice prior to traveling to London.

Because the group was combined from three distinct schools with different colored uniforms, an affordable uniform design was created. A black and red track suit was chosen with Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania across the back of the jacket and a tri-emblem with the mascots of the three schools embroidered on the left front breast. The performers also wore a knit cap with the London parade logo embroidered on the front. Standard black marching shoes and black gloves completed the uniform, which students purchased and could then keep as a memento of the event.

The students had to cover their own trip expenses, so several optional fundraisers were held. Most funds raised went directly to the individual student to help defray their costs, with one fundraiser going toward additional experiences for all students while in London. Coffee sales, calendar sales and G.O.A.T. Pie Bingo were the main fundraisers. Brennan was also able to solicit donations from donors such as First Citizen's Community Bank and Dr. Robert Strohecker. 

"The organization and tracking of fundraisers for students and an effort to seek out sponsors for the event added hour upon hour of effort to support the students behind the scenes. I wish we had the ability to send every student that wanted to attend and tried to make it possible for as many students as I could," Brennan said.

The Mansfield University Student Government, through the Committee on Finance, offered to support students' travel by contributing $150 per Mansfield undergraduate student. "All in all, these fundraisers and the Give Campus funding efforts went a long way to make this trip possible for many students who, without some level of support, could not have participated in the trip," Brennan said. "We are deeply grateful to all members of our alumni and community who supported our students through any and all of these efforts."

For some of the students, this was their first time out of the country. "To experience the diversity of cultures in England, to take in the history, politics and society and relate it to our own - I cannot come close to describing the impact it had on all of us, myself included," Brennan said. "The educational and life-benefit of international travel cannot be argued. To see the students' reaction to sights and experiences they had encountered on the trip was amazing. The trip was life-changing and the chance to perform as musicians of all levels was truly humbling."

"Experiences like this are a hallmark of a robust university education," said President Bashar W. Hanna. "I'm so pleased that our students had an opportunity to travel to London and showcase their phenomenal talent. This trip also demonstrates what's possible through the power of three at Commonwealth University by bringing together students from all of our locations to learn, grow and discover the world."

The Mansfield Wind Ensemble also performed "In Omnibus Contende pro Altissimo," which in Latin is "In All Things, Let There Be Excellence." This work was composed in honor of the band's invitation to perform in London, England, and represents the band's and department's reputation for excellence in music. The work had its American premiere in late November 2023 and its World premiere on Dec. 30 in London.

While in London, the musicians also had the opportunity to see Westminster Abbey, The London Tube, The Queen's Tower/Big Ben, Parliament, The Thames, The London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Windsor Palace, Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court Palace. They also received a private tour of Royal Albert Hall and were treated to a West End performance of "Wicked" on the West End (akin to Broadway). 

Valerie Miller, a media and journalism major at Mansfield, participated in the parade as a member of the color guard. Miller, of Arkport, New York, also plays the bassoon. She said she was thankful that time was provided for exploration and learning during the trip, in addition to the amazing experience of performing in the parade.

"I love learning about new things, so all of the tours were really amazing," Miller said. "It was awesome to be given free time to explore almost every area we visited, and we all were able to experience different things that we were most interested in."