March 2009
A Performance of a Lifetime
by Karen Boehler
Tens of millions of people worldwide watch the Tournament of Roses Parade on television. It’s estimated that more than a million line the streets of Pasadena, CA, to watch in person. Compared to those numbers, only a handful of people get to actually participate in the parade.
Cloudcroft high school junior Tyler Hale is one of those lucky few. After auditioning via the Internet, the young trombonist was picked to be one of about 315 musicians, flag team members, color guards, and dancers from 30 states across the U.S. to play in the Bands of America Honor Band this past January.
Along with his mother, Eva Lynn Hale, and several other family members, Hale flew from New Mexico to Los Angeles where activities got underway December 27 and lasted through January 2.
Ask him his impressions of the event, and the same theme comes up over and over. “It was really, really tiring,” Hale says. “We were up probably about between 5:30 to 6:00 in the morning. And we’d go outside, for the first couple of days, at least, and we’d march for a good amount of time.”
All that practicing—which took place in a hotel ballroom for the music, and in both the Santa Anita Racetrack and Dodger Stadium parking lots for the marching—was to get ready for the big day itself: 5.5 miles and 21/2 hours of music and marching. And by the time he made it to the end of the parade, Hale says, “I was about dead.”
And while Hale said he tried practicing before he even left Cloudcroft, he didn’t realize what he was in for. “I tried (practicing), but I kind of underestimated it,” he says. “The hardest part wasn’t really making the parade, I think it was the lining up. Because that’s nothing we do at Cloudcroft High School.”
Something else that was different from the high school bland was the uniform. “I loved the uniform! It was amazing,” he says. While the Cloudcroft band does wear uniforms, they don’t wear shako hats (the type with plumes on top) or gauntlets, and Hale said he fell in love with both parts of the uniform.
In the parade, Hale was in the second row, just left of center, right behind the float sponsored by The National Association of Music Merchants. This float was created in collaboration with “Sesame Street” and Music for All, the organization that promotes the Honor Band.
But while there was a lot of work, Hale said the band members had fun as well. They got to help decorate the float, participate in a leadership workshop, perform at Band Fest, go to Disneyland, and tour parts of Hollywood.
Would he do it all over again? “The experience was enough,” he says. “I don’t think I’d do it again.” He also can’t pick his favorite part of the trip. “The parade. And getting to hear us in the rehearsals, and marching with a full band…what can I say? It was all good! I couldn’t possibly choose a best time,” he says.
As for music, he’s only been playing for six years, it definitely is in his future. “I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with it, but I am going to pursue it and see what happens.” In the near future, he hopes to attend NMSU as a performance major, “then see if I can go to a conservatory of some sort.”
If you know anyone who’d make a good profile for this column—including yourself—let us know at sespinoza@enchantment.coop.
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