Added on April 11, 2022 Sara Swanson

Manchester to Manchester: The High School band visits England

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The Manchester High School band performs in the Southwark Cathedral in London. Photo courtesy of Erin Throneberry.

Saturday March 26, when many Manchester High School students were relaxing on their first day of spring break, forty-one High School band members and chaperones were headed to the Detroit airport to catch a flight for England with destinations including London and Manchester, UK!

Planning for the eight-day trip began in September 2019, although initially it was planned for spring break 2021. Because of Covid-19, in September 2020 it was rescheduled for spring break 2022. Band students fundraised extensively to pay for the trip, including selling pies, hams, mattresses, advertisements in concert programs, and assisting with the canoe race.

Through all of the uncertainty surrounding health and travel last year, patience paid off. Band director Jared Throneberry praised the tenacity of the group and the fact that they managed to get there in the end, “It was a trip three years in the making!”

Throneberry hadwanted to take his band on an international trip at least once during his career. The teacher he did his student teaching with went to England every four years. Throneberry’s own child had the opportunity to go to Europe in school. And the time seemed right with the group of students he had at the time the trip was planned.

The only stressful part of the trip turned out to be the airport. Throneberry explained, “We had kids that had never flown before. On the way there the flight was delayed three hours. On the way home the tuba jammed the conveyer belt. The pilot got lost on the way to the airport. We were literally running to get to the gate on time so the delays actually worked in our favor.” He added, "Everything before the trip was chaotic. Once we finally got there it was fantastic. The experiences people had will last a lifetime.”

In London they visited Covent Garden, the London Eye, a scenic cruise on the Thames, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theater, Southwark Cathedral, took a walking tour of some of London’s most famous sights, took a Harry Potter-themed walking tour, and took in a performance of Six — the musical at Vaudeville Theater. On the way to Manchester they stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon and visited Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Holy Trinity Church, and Shakespeare’s birthplace. In Manchester they had a sightseeing tour, and visited Old Trafford Stadium — home of Manchester United.

Amie Armstrong, a parent who accompanied the band, as well as teaching in the district, stated, “This trip was certainly worth the wait. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to take this amazing trip and experience all the sights London and Manchester England had to offer.”

Student Logan Kippnick felt it was well worth the year delay and his family felt it was a great experience for him. Something he found particularly interesting in Manchester was the image of worker bees around the city and on the Manchester coat of arms, and the history behind it. The worker bee was adopted as a symbol for Manchester during the Industrial Revolution, at a time when the city was taking a leading role in new forms of mass production, and symbolises its citizens’ hard work during this era and Manchester being a hive of activity in the 19th century. Logan’s great uncle was a designer of many updated coat of arms for cities in a Germany and his family raises bees right here in our Manchester.

In addition to sightseeing, the band performed. In Manchester they had a workshop at Chetham’s School of Music. Chetham’s is the largest specialist Music School in the UK and is the only one based in the north of England.

In London they played at Lilian Baylis Technology School. Afterwards they had a half hour Q&A session with a class of year 7 through 12 students. The English students asked Throneberry what the biggest difference was and he told them he couldn’t get used to everyone driving on the left side of the road. They then asked him to do his best British accent. Then the students did their best American accent which involved flattening out the word water. Logan stated that afterwards he felt very aware of how he was saying “water” for the rest of the trip!

However, the experience which seems to have most impacted students and chaperones alike was performing at Southwark Cathedral in London. The cathedral was 600 years old but was built on ground used by the church for 1,400 years.

Parent Jacqui Coluccy stated, “The students playing in the cathedral was AMAZING! The architecture of all the cathedrals we visited was overwhelming when you thought of what the builders accomplished without modern tools.” Logan added, “It was really interesting to be standing in buildings that were so big, yet so old. It was humbling to perform in a cathedral that was over 600 years old.”

If Throneberry had to pick his favorite specific activity of the trip, he’d say visiting the Tower of London. But the greatest thing for him was to take the kids and parents on experiences they would never have done otherwise, helping them make memories to last a lifetime. He explained, “The real highlight for me was watching smiles and amazement on everyone’s faces as we walked through 1,000 year old streets. You can’t replicate that by looking at the internet.”

Coluccy summed it up that feeling as a parent, “The students were respectful of us, the people they met and the places they visited. It was an amazing experience!”

Thinking toward the future, Throneberry stated, “I don’t have too many years to go in my career, but I think I have one more trip in me before I retire."