Mercer Island youth musicians will soon be marching and performing on the streets of London.

Jan. 1 is just around the corner and an assemblage of 206 local high schoolers is ready to unleash its tunes in a prestigious event. Eight months ago, a pair of New Year’s Day London Parade dignitaries — Robert Bone and Steve Summers — visited Mercer Island High School (MIHS) and invited its marching band to join 15 other United States high school and college bands in the 40th installment of the popular parade.

A thrilled group of Island performers and co-directors Parker Bixby, Kyle Thompson and Jacob Krieger accepted, of course.

The event attracts a street audience of around a half a million people each year, was broadcast live on 340 million televisions across the globe this year and features roughly 8,000 participants from 22 different countries, according to a previous Reporter article. With a route situated in the center of London, musicians will march past such iconic sites as Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square.

Bixby will return with MIHS to the London parade after directing the band in that immense event on the first day of 2011. Another invitation from the Londoners began taking shape after the MIHS marching band’s participation in the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and then reached fruition last April.

“It’s a great trip. Traveling with a marching band is a really special and amazing educational moment,” Bixby said. “Traveling is the most amazing synthesis of what we do in the classroom. And then to go do it in London, which is just one of the world’s greatest cities, give them an opportunity to see and be in the middle of what they see about and learn about and they are reading about every day in these walls.”

The band held its final practice before the parade on Dec. 6 on the MIHS athletic field and is set for action in London, according to student performers William Liu and Jonathan Mak.

“(It’s) a lot of practicing, but I think our band has been doing really good so far, especially coming from games. We’ve been practicing music all the way from summer and I think we’re going to be OK, and it’s going to be quite fun,” said Liu, a sophomore tenor drummer.

Mak, a junior mellophone section leader, is excited to participate in another massive parade after experiencing the Macy’s event two years ago.

“(I’ve) made it to upperclassman, and everyone around you — you can kind of lift them up — and everyone’s kind of got that same goal and is working extremely hard. Not only physically practicing marching, but also mentally. It takes an incredible amount of mental load to stay in the game for a two-mile parade and continue to perform a show in front of the stands,” Mak said.

Putting on a show for the MIHS boosters program is another vital part of the trip, Mak said regarding the band’s appreciation of the group’s fundraising for the trek and getting new uniforms a few years ago. Thompson and Bixby also praised the dedicated booster volunteers for helping to provide over $85,000 in scholarships for students to travel to London, keep track of equipment, organize uniforms and more.

While in London, the band will not only march in the parade but engage in a pair of standstill concerts in Russell Square (next to The British Museum) and Covent Garden (a shopping and entertainment hub). Some of the musicians featured on the MIHS band’s playlist during the performances will be The Beatles, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Jacob Collier and more. Following its two-hour parade march, the band will halt for a bit before launching into a two-minute on-screen set.

When they put their instruments to rest, the Islanders will watch “Wicked” and visit the Tower of London, The British Museum, Oxford and more. They’ll depart on their journey from Sea-Tac on six different flights on Dec. 27 and return home on Jan. 3. Thirteen huge crates containing the musicians’ instruments were shipped to London on Dec. 11.

“I am just so excited for the students and so proud of their hard work. And I think every year we find ourselves surrounded by really incredible students, but this year’s leadership team and these seniors have been working really hard. I remember when they were in eighth grade, thinking, ‘Wow, this is going to be a fantastic group,’” Krieger said.

Added Thompson: “This incredible amount of grit and hard work and community and friendship and purpose and development as human beings, that all goes into our product and into the parade block. I feel very proud of them. I feel very proud of our community that they want to support us in these endeavors and they see the value of it as well. It’s really incredible.”

Mercer Island High School’s marching band holds its final practice on Dec. 6 before participating in the New Year’s Day London Parade. Photos courtesy of Kate Bergman