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Texas Tech Goin’ Band leaves for NYC for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

C.Thompson3 months ago

LUBBOCK, Texas — The Texas Tech Goin’ Band left Raiderland Monday morning to perform in New York City for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

The group took nine buses with a police escort to the airport. With a large group and a lot of luggage, the band had to take a Boeing 747 airliner, one of the longest planes you can fly.

Freshman alto sax player, Alex Rodriguez, was eager to get on the plane and head to the Big Apple to represent Texas Tech.

“I mean, this is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and even just like, staying in Times Square, that’s crazy,” Rodriguez said.

Freshman Clarinet player, Caia Hernandez said it was an experience that was sudden, but once they knew they were going, prep began immediately.

“Some of us auditioned not even knowing we’re going to Macy’s and they’re like, Hey, you’re going to Macy’s, and we’re like, okay,” Hernandez said. “I think we started about two
months ago just playing music like during summer band before we even got the music playing, so it’s just been nonstop since then.”

Freshman clarinet player Natalie Cruz said all that work paid off. With it being her first year on a big stage, she admits she has nerves, but the excitement is slowly taking over as they get closer and closer to the big day.

“Like there’s going to be all these people watching and they’ve made it a big deal like, Oh, this is how many people are going to be watching and I think that’s just scary to think about, But also it’s really cool because we get to be in a group that represents Tech,” Cruz said.

Now that practice is over, and it’s almost showtime, band members like Freshman alto sax player, Issac Nunuo, said looking back on the year and all the prep they’ve done for Macy’s has made the experience even more memorable.

“The state fair event that they had going on, which we are also part of, and then Macy’s, I think just everything in general this year has just been amazing and I wouldn’t change it for any other way,” Nunuo said.

The Goin’ Band will perform Thursday morning, and will be the only Texas band in the Macy’s parade.

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