Utah band directors excited to march in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Nov 20, 2023, 7:49 PM | Updated: 7:53 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — There’s something special about performing with hundreds of people.
Thirteen band directors from Utah will participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday as part of the Band Directors Marching Band. Michael and Hayley Winslow, band directors in the Washington School District, are among the 13.
“I mean, it’s kind of cool,” Hayley Winslow said. “It’s, it’s really awesome.”
The Band Directors Marching Band, performed Monday at Ground Zero, the Winslows were among them.
Thirteen band directors from Utah will participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday as part of the Band Directors Marching Band. Michael and Hayley Winslow, band directors in the Washington School District, are among the 13. (KSL TV)
“I would say the majority of us cried through our performance,” Hayley Winslow said. “And we watched the face of our director and he was bawling through this whole thing.”
Michael Winslow, who is a band director at Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School, was also touched by Monday’s performance.
“It was very touching,” he said. “We’ve both been here to the 9/11 Memorial before, but to be able to play here on the grounds was just very emotional.
Hayley Winslow is the band director at Snow Canyon Middle School, both schools are in St. George.
Wreath ceremony
Monday’s performance was part of a wreath ceremony for first responders, which is something their own students did back home on 9/11.
“And we want them to feel that service as well,” she said. “And know that music is something that we give as we as we receive skills.”
Michael Winslow plays the trombone, while his wife plays the trumpet. And yeah, they met in marching band, at Southern Utah University.
Both of them are excited for Thursday.
“It’s always the those big parades,” Michael Winslow said. “Macy’s and the Rose Parade are the ones everyone’s like, ‘that’s what I want to do because I’m in high school marching band.’ And so it is very much living out a dream just a little bit later than when I was in high school, but still able to fulfill that dream.”
Directors from all over Utah, from Weber to St. George are all taking part as the Band Directors Marching band takes part in its very first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
And more than their music, the directors hope people watching will start to get a message.
“We want everyone to know how important music education is,” Michael Winslow said. “That it’s something that we want every student to have access to.”
For more information on the Band Directors Marching Band, click here.
