West Boca Vanguard Gets London Invitation
Dozens of musicians from West Boca Raton High School will get the experience of a lifetime next school year as the band travels to England to play in the London New Year’s Eve parade and gala concert series for New Year’s 2016.
Vanguard Band
The band, known as The Vanguard, will be the first ever from Palm Beach County invited to play in the London celebration and one of only about 12 bands from the United States invited, said West Boca Raton High School band director Larry Shane.
“It will be an amazing opportunity for the students to play in front of thousands of people and show off their hard work and talent,” Shane said. The parade will also be broadcast on television internationally and available for broadcast by local stations in Palm Beach County.
The trip came about, Shane said, because officials with the Florida Bandmasters Association, which oversees high school band competitions in the state, had connections with the organizers of the London parade and when those organizers came looking for American bands West Boca Raton High was specifically recommended, Shane said.
The band tries to take a major trip to perform every other year to give the students the exposure to playing in real venues in front of large numbers of fans. Last year the school’s band traveled to New Orleans to play on riverboat cruises, Shane said.
In addition to playing in the London parade, the band will get to perform in one of London’s Royal Concert Halls. For Shane, a lifelong Beatles fan, the trip will also be an opportunity for he and his students to connect with the music of his youth as they will get to visit the studio and street crossing that were the site of the legendary “Abbey Road” album in 1969.
West Boca Vanguard
Accompanied by Jonathan Whaley, the event’s Director of International Participation, Duncan Sandys, the Lord Mayor of Westminster, made the formal invitation to the 130-member marching band on Monday, May 11 at the High School’s auditorium where the band greeted them.
The trip will cost The Vanguard approximately $300,000 to pay for airfare, and their six-day stay in London. They have an online fundraising page that has already successfully raised over $1,000. The band is also planning some car washes to help raise the money, and the school is seeking corporate sponsors as well.
During Monday’s ceremony, Sandys read a famed citation that recognized the band’s “Outstanding performance abilities,” and walked the students through the 2.2-mile route they’ll march on Jan. 1, 2016.
The route includes some of London’s biggest landmarks like Trafalgar Square and Big Ben.
To learn more about the Vanguard, visit wbhsvanguard.org, and to help the band get to london, visit gofundme.com/westbocaband.
