LZHS Marching Band Preparing for Prestigious Madrid Parade

The Lake Zurich High School Marching Band will have a special visit next week from the executive director of the Youth Music of the World, who chose the band to perform at the prestigious Cabalgata de Reyes parade in Madrid, Spain in December.

Youth Music of the World Executive Director Bob Bone is responsible for selecting three American bands for the Cabalgata de Reyes in Madrid. His September 3 visit is a prelude to the LZHS band’s upcoming appearance in the annual Cabalgata de Reyes Parade. He will meet the band and watch members perform.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our students, our school and our entire community,” said Joshua Thompson, LZHS Band Director. “We’re really looking forward to having these very important guests meet with our student musicians.”

Each year the government of Madrid selects three groups from the USA to come to Spain in connection with  Madrid’s Cabalgata de Reyes event on January 5. Lake Zurich was honored to accept the invitation to participate in the parade and is now in preparation for the December trip.

Bone’s visit is designed to inspire and reconfirm the importance of the invitation to the group. The Director of Protocol for the Parade, Geraldine Bone, will accompany him.

In total, 100 students and chaperones are expected to fly to Madrid on Dec. 30, 2013 and they will return Jan. 6, 2014. The LZHS Band is one of only three marching bands from the United States to be participating in the 2014 parade. The Cabalgata de Reyes is an important event in Spanish culture, as it marks Epiphany, the arrival of the three kings and the arrival of gifts. The parade draws more two million people to downtown Madrid for the parade.

LZHS Marching Band has participated in other international parades including the 2003 and 2008 New Year’s Day parades in London and the 1999 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland.