Two Revere High School (RHS) students marched in The Bands of America Honor Band at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day.
Over the course of 2025, RHS trumpet players Avery Smith, a junior, and Chad Carpenter, a sophomore, practiced and prepared for the Rose Parade after they received their acceptance letters last March. The Rose Parade is a 5.5 mile-long parade across Colorado Boulevard hosted annually in Pasadena, California, for the Playoff Quarterfinals for the Rose Bowl game. The parade hosts performers from the Bands of America Honor Band, and Smith and Carpenter both joined a team of over 250 music students to play for the 137th Rose Parade. This year’s theme for the parade was The Magic in Teamwork. This parade was broadcast to the entire country at 8 a.m. Pacific Time on the ABC network on New Year’s Day according to the press release from Music For All (MFA), the creators of the Bands of America.
“The Bands of America Honor Band is a national ensemble with over 250 performers including winds, percussion, and color guard. . . . Magnificent floral floats, spirited marching bands, and talented equestrian units anchor the traditional, two-hour spectacle along Pasadena’s famed Colorado Boulevard,” MFA said.
Back in early 2025, then-sophomore Avery Smith and then-freshman Chad Carpenter became aware of this event through the two RHS band directors Montana Fassnacht and Tom Chiera. Smith described how her directors introduced this event to her.
“My band directors were . . . like, ‘Hey guys, there’s this Rose Bowl thing. Everybody who wants to do it, just sign up.’ So I signed up,” Smith said.
Carpenter described the timeframe surrounding his application for the parade.
“I sent in an application with the director’s recommendation a year ago, and then I got accepted last March,” Carpenter said.
The application itself included basic details regarding the students, their high schools and their achievements in band programs. From there, MFA chose approximately 250 accomplished band students from across the country to perform in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. In March, MFA sent out the application results to students, and it was then that both Smith and Carpenter received their acceptance letters from the program.
“[When I got my acceptance letter], I was really excited. I remember I was sitting on my stairs. I [thought], ‘Yes, I got in,’ and I texted my mom, and . . . she was excited,” Smith said.
After Carpenter and Smith’s acceptance in March, the MFA provided students with the performance material where they gave out monthly assignments and met with students to ensure everyone learned their roles.
“There [were] not any in-person rehearsals because we’re all from across the country. . . . They gave you the music a full eight months in advance, so you had a lot of time to prepare. . . . In April, there was a movement assignment [where] you record yourself marching forwards [and] backwards. . . . We had assignments every single month for music, . . . [and] three weeks before departure, . . . there [were] virtual rehearsals [on] Zoom,” Smith said.
For months, Smith and Carpenter practiced their pieces from the comfort of their home state, but practicing alone differs from practicing with 250 fellow band members. On December 27, the Rose Parade performers flew into California and, after checking into hotels, rehearsal began. For the following few days, the performers practiced as a collective.
“[December 27 was when] everything start[ed]. You check[ed] in, you [got] to your room, and then rehearsal starts immediately. . . . [We practiced until] the two days before the parade, . . . but other than that, every single day was rehearsal,” Smith said.
Throughout these few days, Smith and Carpenter spent their time surrounded by fellow music students. Both trumpet players had roommates they never met prior to this event, and for Smith, meeting new people and taking advantage of this opportunity became another important part of her trip.
“I was encouraged to meet new people by my family. . . . [My three roommates and I] sort of hung out around each other a lot. We ate dinner, breakfast, lunch [together] whenever we could because those were the first people I knew, so I became really close to my roommates,” Smith said.
In the two days leading up to the New Year, Smith and Carpenter and their peers spent the days focused on relaxing after having rehearsed for several hours the days prior. On New Year’s Eve, the students had a party and celebrated the east coast’s New Year’s Times Square 2026 Ball Drop as they had to rest early in preparation for the Rose Parade the following morning.
“The New Year’s party that we had on the [eve], we celebrated. We [couldn’t] stay up until midnight because we had to wake up [early] for the parade, but we celebrated at 9 p.m. which was New Year’s here [in Ohio], so we just watched the ball drop for Eastern Time. . . . [The party] was kind of like homecoming; that’s what it felt like,” Smith said.
On the day of the parade itself, students woke up in the early hours of the morning to get dressed, travel to and prepare for the performance itself. Then, performers travel 5.5 miles over the course of the parade itself. Carpenter described the morning of his New Year’s this year.
“We had to go downstairs, change into our uniforms. . . . Then we got on a bus at [about] six,” Carpenter said.
Smith went into further detail regarding the morning leading up to the parade itself.
“When I woke up at 4:30 and got up, I did my hair and my roommates’ hair. Then, it was a grab and go breakfast. [We had to] get [our] uniforms on first, and then [we got] breakfast. Then you just go on the bus, and it was an hour trip to Pasadena. . . . It was [raining], so that was a whole deal, and [we had to] suffer for a little bit. . . . The parade out is like five and a half miles, and with us marching before even before we get on the actual route itself, it was more like seven and a half miles. It felt longer than that, that’s for sure,” Smith said.
Over the several miles they walked, the two RHS students and their peers played music for and performed for those who showed up to listen. The parade itself lasted several hours reportedly around two hours according to MFA. Playing music alongside horses and floral floats, Smith described performing in the real parade along Colorado Boulevard.
“It was the same thing, the same songs over and over again, and then maybe like a five minute break in between each play through so that we can catch [our] breath. Once we got to the TV corner—which is exactly what it sounds like, where all of the TVs [are]—it was like nonstop playing because we want the shot on the TV to look right; you got to make sure you look good and your horn angles are good, your posture, everything like that,” Smith said.
Though performing before live television was cool, there was more to the walk besides the TV corner. Smith felt that there was an even cooler part of the parade down Colorado Boulevard that came to be her favorite part of the performance—a tunnel.
“We got under this tunnel, we got like to the best part of the song where we were playing, and I feel like everybody just played the best they could, and it sounded really cool because you’re under a tunnel, so it was like echo-y and boomy and it sounded really good,” Smith said.
Once the parade ended, the trip was officially at its final stages. Performers began packing their things and began returning home, and it was only when the event finally came to a close where Smith realized the impact the trip had on her. Having met and made new friends, experiencing California for the first time, playing alongside peers and surrounding herself with music, Smith could not help but become emotional when it was time to say goodbye.
“[This experience] was really incredible. When I first got there, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to like this because that’s not really me.’ I’m really a reserved person, and I don’t really talk to people that’re outside of my friend group, . . . [but] by the end of the week, I literally cried watching my roommates leave. I cried when this trip was over. I was so sad [because] I loved it. . . . [MFA] always said ‘Our mission is to change you guys for good.’ They definitely did that,” Smith said.
For nearly an entire year, Carpenter and Smith spent their days preparing for the eventful few days they had in California. Now, after performing and representing Revere High School in this event, both students have completed their months-long journey with MFA and the Rose Parade. Both trumpet players have plans to continue involving themselves in Revere’s band program over the rest of their high school careers, and both hope to continue to accomplish more in the future in band.
