Titan Band Ready For Disney
The hotel is booked. Tickets purchased. Busses secured.
Tomorrow the Titan Marching Band will be on their way to Orlando, Florida for their performance at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. This will be the first trip to Disney since Berea and Midpark merged, and it was the reputation of those band programs that earned the Titan Band a premier parade performance. On Sunday, March 20th, the Titan Band will lead Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade, one of the oldest and most popular parades at the Magic Kingdom.
“When we first applied to Disney a year ago, we of course applied as the Berea-Midpark Titan Marching Band, but Disney had never heard of the Berea-Midpark Titan Marching Band and assumed we were new,” said Jeff Fudale, Director of Bands for Berea-Midpark. “So Disney placed us on one of their afternoon parades. I gave them a call and explained who we were and, given our history, I thought it would be an easy fix, but Disney doesn’t take these things lightly. Their evening parades are big time performances, especially at the Magic Kingdom, so it took a little more convincing before we finally got the notification that we were officially in the Main Street Electrical Parade.”
Amid a cold drizzle last week, the Titan Marching band came together for the first time since the end of the marching season last fall. This time there were a few new faces in the band as a number of freshman were added for the trip to Florida. “Berea and Midpark were both four year high schools, meaning freshman were able to be part of the marching bands. Under the new structure, Berea-Midpark is a three year high school so there are no freshman at the school” said Dan Barth, Assistant Band Director and Head of the Berea-Midpark Music Department. “Allowing the Ninth Graders to make the trip not only helps our ranks, but also gives these kids a taste of what marching band will be like in the fall when they’re sophomores and officially part of the Titan Band.”
“During our first rehearsal last week I tried to impress on the kids how unique this performance is going to be.” said Fudale. “From the moment we step backstage till the end of the parade, we are part of Disney’s presentation. People from all over the world come to Disney and the parade route will be six to ten people deep throughout the park.”
Yesterday the instrument trailer was loaded and sent on its way to Florida. All that’s left is to load uniforms, luggage and band members for the Friday morning departure. Fudale added, “When those gates swing open and we step out into the Magic Kingdom’s Town Square, it will be a special moment for the kids, our district and the communities we represent.”