Trystin Lashley, a junior, and Ellie Barkalow, a senior, at Mount Vernon High School, have been selected by Music for All to be members of the Bands of America (BOA) Honor Band in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Lashley and Barkalow were selected from among hundreds of applicants across the nation for membership in this prestigious national honor band. Trystin Lashley is the child of Gennifer Lashley and Ellie Barkalow is the child of Renee Barkalow and the late Neil Barkalow. Their band director is Scott Weber.
The BOA Honor Band is a 300-piece national ensemble with winds, percussion, and a flag and dance team. Richard Saucedo, composer, conductor and retired director of the national champion Carmel H.S. (IN) marching band, will direct the 2022 BOA Honor Band. Music educator, conductors, and adjudicator David Starnes, Director of Orchestras at Kennesaw Mountain H.S., Ga., is program coordinator.
Lashley, a tuba player, and Barkalow, a flute player, will spend a week in Southern California, where they will have rehearsals, performances at the Tournament of Roses Bandfest and Disneyland, special activities and a featured appearance in the famous parade broadcast worldwide. The 2022 Rose Parade presented by Honda begins at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day and is themed “DREAM. BELIEVE. ACHIEVE.” The 5.5-mile parade will be televised worldwide through its broadcast partners. Magnificent floral floats, spirited marching bands and talented equestrian units anchor the traditional, two-hour spectacle along Pasadena’s famed Colorado Boulevard. Learn more about the parade and broadcast at tournamentofroses.com.
“To be selected for this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students, and a testimony to their excellence and achievements,” says director Richard Saucedo. “The Rose Parade is one of our country’s national pageantry treasures. The 2022 Honor Band members are ambassadors of America’s scholastic music and arts programs, as well as their schools and communities. Congratulations to Trystin Lashley and Ellie Barkalow on this fantastic accomplishment and recognition.”
This will mark the fifth time Music for All’s Bands of America Honor Band has performed in the Tournament of Roses Parade. The BOA Honor Band also performed in the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2005, 2009 when it was a part of the President’s Award-winning entry created with NAMM and Sesame Street Workshop, 2013 and in 2017. Music for All sponsors and partners will play an important role in preparing the BOA Honor Band for their performances. Yamaha Corporation of America, MFA’s National Presenting Sponsor, will provide percussion and brass instruments. Fred J. Miller, Inc. (FJM) will outfit the members in custom uniforms designed by award-winning designer Michael Cesario, one of the nation’s leading pageantry visionaries. Music Travel Consultants, MFA’s Official Student Travel Partner, will manage the travel, housing and logistics for the band members and their families.
Bands of America is a program of Music for All (MFA), one of the nation’s largest and most influential organizations in support of active music making. Music for All is a 501©3 not-for-profit educational organization.
Locals marching in Rose Bowl Parade
December 23, 2021