(KGTV) -- A San Diego high school will be on the world stage, headed to the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, 2022. Members of the 'Sapphire Sound'marching band say performing at the parade will be a dream come true.
Only the best of the best are invited to perform at the Rose Parade in Pasadena.
"It's not every day that someone says, 'We want you to be in the Rose Parade,'" Senior sousaphone player, Charles Nothdurft, said.
Mira Mesa High School's 'Sapphire Sound' was supposed to perform at this year's parade. But the event was canceled because of the pandemic. Luckily, their invitation rolled over to New Year's Day 2022.
"There's been a lot of sadness in our world, and what better way to celebrate than to come into this year's parade, in the very first hours of a brand new year, and feel like we're able to bring music to the world!" Mira Mesa High School Director of Bands, Jeanne Christensen, said.
For the band's leader or drum major, Aaliyah Frace, the Rose Parade has a special place in her heart.
"I think I was in sixth grade when we were in the Rose Parade last time, and I looked at that band at the time, and I really wanted to be a part of that," Frace said.
That was in 2016, when Mira Mesa High School was first invited to perform at the coveted parade. Now that this is their second go-around, their expectations for themselves are even higher.
"We don't want to plateau and drop off. We want to keep on soaring higher and higher each day that we come out here and practice," Nothdurft said.
Their attention to detail, tenacity, and character will be on full display for the world to see, to inspire the next generation of performers.
"I think we have an attitude of being all in," Christensen said proudly.
"I can only hope that when we do the parade in just a week, there's someone just like me back in sixth grade, and looks at us and thinks, 'I want to be there,'" Frace said.
As part of the Rose Parade Band Fest, 'Sapphire Sound' will also perform at the Disneyland holiday parade.
