The acceptance of Mira Mesa into the 2021 Tournament of Roses Parade was announced at the end of the band’s regular marching rehearsal on October 17 by Dr. Robert Miller, Tournament of Roses President for 2021. Over the next year, the 220+ students in the MMHS Marching Band and Color Guard will train hard under Jeanne Christensen, Director of Bands at Mira Mesa since 1994. During their performance, the students will have to endure two hours of non-stop marching. They will march 5.5 miles in front of an estimated 1 million parade observers as well as nearly 100 million people on television.
It is a huge honor to be selected to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade, and this is the second time in five years that Mira Mesa High School will have appeared, as they performed in the Parade in 2016. At that time, they were the first band from San Diego Unified to march in the Rose Parade since Patrick Henry High School in 1983.
The Mira Mesa High School band has a long history of top-notch performances, from the Opening Ceremonies for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia to recent concerts at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center (2017) and New York City’s Carnegie Hall (2019). Make sure to tune in to the Rose Parade next year on January 1 to see Mira Mesa representing San Diego Unified School District.
