Nearly 90 people attended MCHS’s band trip to New York City, including the ensemble’s musicians, people affiliated with the marching band, color guard, and jazz band. 

This trip could not have been possible, however, without the 20 chaperones who volunteered.

Before heading to New York City, the group stopped in Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Sadie Sullivan, a senior at MCHS and a member of the band program, expresses her favorite part of the trip. 

“My favorite part was definitely seeing The Great Gatsby,” Sullivan states. “I like both plays and band things, and I think it’s cool because in the musical setting, they combine both worlds.”

Broadway is a big deal, but so are the little things, such as walking the streets of New York.

Jackie Stauner, a MCHS senior and member of the band program, says that her favorite part of this trip was exploring the city with her friends and classmates.

Stauner says, “I made a lot of new friends and connections with people by just being in close quarters with everyone for a whole week.”

Ryan Cabildo, director of bands at MCHS, expresses that he has been to New York before, but what stood out to him while visiting as a teacher was his students’ reaction to the same things he had experienced as a high schooler. 

“I’ve been to New York before,” Cabildo starts, “but it filled me with a lot of joy to see these young people, you know, see the Empire State Building for the first time, that joy and excitement in their faces.”

The band department tries its best to give students inspiring opportunities like this every two years.

Cabildo explains that the booking process always starts a year and a half in advance. In this case, he started reaching out to a travel agent in the fall of 2024. 

“The spring of ‘25, so a year in advance,” Cabildo says, “is when we sent the paperwork to admin and the school board to get that all approved.”

Big trips are not possible without the small details that go into planning and executing.

Cabildo mentions the small things that go into making these trips as seamless as possible. 

He explains that the most difficult thing about trips like these is collecting emails, making sure everybody is on top of payments, meal selections and that everyone gets into hotel rooms.

“With all of the moving parts, with so many people,” Cabildo says, “it’s just really easy for things to fall through the cracks.”

Stauner explains that in Central Park, people gathered around the band and listened to them perform.

“I think that’s what music is all about,” she starts, “it’s all about bringing people together and just enjoying yourself in the moment.”

Sullivan expresses her gratitude for being able to perform in New York City.

“It felt like all the work I was putting into music was finally noticed by the public,” she starts, “it felt like I had more of an impact on people around me.”

Sullivan and Stauner both agree that New York City was their favorite trip the band program has been on during their time at MCHS.

“We always had something to do, whether that was going to see an opera or a Broadway show,” Stauner says, “we learned so much stuff about the city of New York by going to the 9/11 Memorial and experiencing the city first hand.”

“You only really see this stuff on social media,” says Sullivan, “so to experience it in person was just really crazy.”