London calling: Hempfield band submits video for U.K. New Year’s Day Parade
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The Hempfield Area Marching Band has once again answered the call from across the pond.
Last week, band members donned their uniforms and set out to the high school football field where they performed their rendition of “The Horse” by Cliff Nobles & Co. A video of the performance will be played as part of London’s virtual New Year’s Day Parade and Festival. The Hempfield band traveled to England last year and marched in the event.
“We were able to work it out within our health and safety plan with the district and luckily the weather cooperated and we got one day to meet after school and get dressed up in our uniforms again and perform,” said band director Brian Tychinski. “It was nice.”
Events for the band have largely been tabled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A few weeks ago, Tychinski said he was contacted by a parade representative asking if the band would be able to put together a video for the event, even though they were not scheduled to perform at the parade.
With high school students alternating between in-person and online classes this semester, Tychinski said he initially was not sure they could pull it off. “But luckily, with the help of some great band parents, we were able to put it all together,” he said.
On Tuesday, students gathered to make the video. They had to follow guidelines like having a continuous soundtrack that was not cut or edited while showing different shots of the students. Band leaders used an overhead camera along with cameras going through the group for close-up shots, Tychinski said.
The video will be livestreamed on the parade’s website, lnydp.com, beginning at 7 a.m. New Year’s Day. Other videos will be submitted by bands around the world as part of a studio-based television program that will ring in the New Year, as well as the parade’s 35th anniversary.
Also featured in the program will include Lord Mayor of Westminster Jonathan Glanz, Andrew Love of The Ritz Hotel in London and Jace Tyrrell of the New West End Company.
According to the parade website, last year’s parade was the last major event prior to coronavirus-related lockdowns. Members of the Hempfield band were invited to participate in the 2020 parade, which was broadcast live on WQED Pittsburgh.
In preparation for the event, which featured 10,000 participants, band members sold more than 150,000 hoagies to cover the $640,000 cost of the trip.
“To get together and have everybody put on their uniforms was a really great feeling,” Tychinski said of filming the video. “It was nice to just be back on the field and playing music together with everyone again. I know the kids were really excited and pumped up about it, too.”