As the rosy hues of twilight peeked through the November clouds, Temple University’s Diamond Marching Band, complete with instruments and flags, practiced on campus’ Geese Field.
He studied selections from Taylor Swift and the film kpop demon hunter While Athletic Band Director Matthew Bruner studied their sound and formation by raising scissors 25 feet in the air.
“The notes should be longer,” Brunner said on the microphone after a selection. “Don’t try to play them too small.”
” Read more: Temple University’s marching band will perform in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
There were less spectators that afternoon. But this is about to change in a big way.
The 200-member band is one of only 11 selected to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. This is a first for Temple, who will be the only band from Pennsylvania or New Jersey in this year’s parade. If prior numbers are any indication, more than 30 million people will likely be watching from home and 3.5 million in person.
That’s a lot of exposure for Cherry and White, which could boost recruiting and fundraising.
Temple President John Fry said, “I can hardly think of a better way to bring visibility to the temple.”
And that visibility can lead to more people coming to Temple’s website and seeing what the university has to offer, he said.
“This is going to be incredible for the university,” said Bruner, who initially announced that Temple’s band has been selected for the parade in August 2024. “There is no television event, other than the Super Bowl, that is bigger than this.”
” Read more: Temple marching band makes waves at national level
The excitement is palpable among the students, some of whose families are planning to attend the parade.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Erin Flanagan, 21, who grew up watching the parade with her family and says she’s wanted to march in it since she was 6 years old. “I mean, the Macy’s parade is iconic.”
The music education major from Manasquan, NJ, a senior, said this will likely be her last performance with the band, and she couldn’t have written it any better.
“I get to go to this amazing performance and show everyone what Temple means,” said Flanagan, leader of the alto saxophone section.
It’s the 99th anniversary of the 2.5-mile parade, which begins at about 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day on NBC and Peacock, hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker.
Lorelee Minde, an 18-year-old freshman from Levittown, will march playing the tuba, a 36-pound instrument.
“You’ll get used to it,” she said. “It’s like carrying a really heavy purse.”
Bruner, who has led the marching band for 18 years, said he had applied to be in the parade several times before. It is a competitive process, with over 100 applicants competing for a spot. They had to submit a video of a performance – they sent a 10-minute show performed by the band barbie Movie Soundtrack – Photos of the band in uniform, reasons why Temple deserved a shot, and the band’s resume and biography.
when his wife saw barbie show, Bruner said, he texted her: “This is the show you need to send to Macy’s.”
It proved to be a winner.
“They like the fact that the music we play is modern,” he said.
The honor comes at a special time for the band, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Bruner also reflected that fact in the application.
Under Brunner’s leadership, the band has evolved and is achieving high marks. Over the years, the school has been recognized as one of the nation’s top collegiate marching bands by USA Today and Rolling Stone, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonand an episode of Madam Secretaryand was featured in two Hollywood films, The Wolf of Wall StreetStarring Leonardo DiCaprio, and a remake of AnnieSome of its performances have received millions of views on YouTube, including a 2018 performance of “Idol” by K-pop group BTS, which currently has over five million views on Ricky Swalm’s YouTube channel,
The band consists of a color guard, a baton twirler, brass and woodwind instruments, a drum line, and a dance team. The group usually practices three times a week for two hours at a time.
“The band is infectious,” Bruner said. “When you watch them perform, you can’t help but smile.”
Students have been eyeing the parade opportunity for some time.
When Flanagan was a sophomore, she asked Bruner point-blank: “When are we having the Macy’s parade?”
Recently, he and his roommates, who are also band members, have been counting down the days on a whiteboard.
Bruner declined to say what the band would perform on Thanksgiving, but promised a mix of holiday, audience participation and temple songs.
“We’re hoping the wind doesn’t blow,” he said.
He explained that Color Guard Captain Abigail Rosen and her co-captains were planning to “drop” their flag on other band members and that the wind might interfere with it.
“It’s an exchange toss up,” said Rosen, 20, a junior advertising major from Abington. “So I toss my flag to Dana (Samuelson) and she toss her flag to me, and we grab each other’s flags.”
The selected band received $10,000 from the retailer, which Temple officials said helped them raise funds for the trip.
The band will travel to New York on Tuesday for an alumni event, then a performance Today Show it Wednesday. Band members will wake up Thursday morning for rehearsal, and after the parade, the school will take them on a Thanksgiving dinner cruise along the Hudson River.
Andrew Malik, a 20-year-old music major from Carlisle, PA, who plays the tuba, can’t wait.
“It would be nice to say you’ve done this all your life,” he said.
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