A group of 120 instrument-wielding high-schoolers are raising money to play in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Following a selective audition process, the Gainesville High School Hurricane Marching Band was one of eight selected to march in the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in D.C. on April 8, band director Bill Pirzer said.
The band was selected because of its championship-winning performance at the Florida Marching Band Coalition competition in 2015, where the team placed first, he said.
Before the band can make the trip, though, it must reach a fundraising goal of $100,000, a formidable amount that members have almost met.
So far, the band has raised almost $70,000 through large fundraisers and donations gathered by students, Pirzer said. Each student is expected to raise $550 for the trip.
Steven Brooks, the GHS band secretary, said students are excited about the trip and the opportunity to perform in the nation’s capital.
“With this being an inauguration year and all the news showing the activity in Washington these last several weeks, the students will get to see where history is being made,” he said.
In order to raise the rest of the money for the trip, the band is hosting at least two more fundraisers over the next few weeks, Brooks said.
One of the fundraisers is the Mile of Quarters, in which students will attempt to raise $15,840 in quarters.
“To be able to represent our school, our town and our state is such an honor,” Pirzer said. “I’m glad to be able to give that to the kids.”
Bill Pirzer, director of bands at Gainesville High School, conducts the GHS band during practice on Tuesday. The band is trying to raise funds for a trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C., in April.
Emma McDavid, a 14-year-old freshman at Gainesville High School, plays clarinet during GHS band practice on Tuesday. The band was practicing a piece called “Sounds of Cinema.”
