The sounds of drums, trumpets and saxophones filled Trabuco Hills High School’s gymnasium Friday morning.
For most students, this would be a normal assembly. For the members of the Mission Viejo school’s instrumental music program, it was a moment of a lifetime.
The instrumental music program, with about 120 students, was officially invited out of thousands of high school programs to be part of the over 8,000 performers in the 2026 London’s New Year’s Parade. And to add more to the honor of marching around Big Ben, they will be part of the parade’s 40th anniversary special.
“You’re amazing, you’re invited and you’re coming to London,” announced Steve Summers, chair of the London Mayor’s Association and patron of London’s New Year’s Parade. Summers traveled to Mission Viejo to make the special announcement to the students in person on Friday, Sept. 27.
The invitation adds to the long list of achievements for the nationally recognized ensemble. In the span of 30 years, the marching band has received 10 championship titles at the Western Band Association Championships. They also performed at the 2017 National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C., and the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York.
“This is an amazing experience,” said music director Brad Pollock. “These kids are fantastic, and this is a great honor for them.”
Practice for the music program is almost non-stop for the students. Each section spends long hours each week rehearsing, performing at football games and attending competitions. Their practices carry over into the weekend and their summer breaks.
Josh Bailey, a senior drum major, has spent his high school career as part of the music program while balancing his academics.
He first began playing music in elementary school, joining the marching band in high school. He was inspired by the drum majors — how they led the band — and he worked to become one by his sophomore year.
“It’s shocking and mind-blowing to see how incredible our program is,” Bailey said. “We put in all this hard work, and it’s really satisfying and awesome to see our hard work get recognized.”
The 17-year-old said the music program plans to keep practicing marching and their songs for the internationally televised parade. Before they can fly across the pond, the program’s students must raise enough funds for their students to attend.
Pollock said it will cost about $4,000 per student to attend the parade — and there are about 120 students in the program who were invited to attend the event. About 90 students have already signed up for the trip, Pollock said, noting that he hopes more will end up joining.
Not only was the marching band selected to attend to parade, but the program’s other ensembles — including percussion, symphony and strings — were also selected to head to London.
The program already fundraises with weekly bingo and clothing drives. It is also soliciting donations and sponsorships from the community.
“We do fundraising all year for our band program because a portion of what the students do can be covered through district and site funds,” said Trabuco Hills High principal Alicia Foulk.
Pollock and his students found out about the invitation a few months ago. They have worked on fundraising but also prepared for Friday’s event to perform for their families, administrators and others, including the co-founder of the London parade, Bob Bone.
Bone said he is excited to invite the Mustangs to London to see them showcase their skills. The goal is to make them “Londoners,” he said, by not just inviting them to stay for the parade but for the whole week.
“I think the thing about this band is the fact that they clearly enjoy the musical repertoire that they’re playing,” Bone said. “It’s infectious and that’s exactly the sort of band that we want at our parade.”
Bone said the process of selecting a high school to perform at their parade is a long one.
In the U.S., there are about 22 band consultants who are former music teachers and band competition judges. The consultants attend various music conventions and competitions to pick out which schools would be best for the parade. Patrons like Bone and Summers take the list of suggested bands and watch their performances online before making the final decision.
This process is similar for the other 72 groups that will perform in London. As part of the invitation, each group will receive a special ceremony like the students at Trabuco Hills High did.
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