SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Missouri State University marching band was selected to represent Missouri with a performance Monday at the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony in Washington, D.C.
But after frigid temperatures canceled the parade and moved ceremonies indoors, the band was no longer able to perform.
Already in D.C., buses loaded with instruments, and family and friends close behind, the band did what it does best – thinking quickly on their feet.
“It's not only the good times, but a lot of times when you experience, you know, shared bad experiences," Missouri State University Director of Bands, Brad Snow, said. "Those things can bring you together too."
Snow said they performed for family, friends, and Missouri politicians Sunday night at Georgetown University, still delivering what they came to do. He also said they still got to explore and sightsee like they’d originally planned.
“We had a really powerful wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which really spoke to a lot of the students" Snow said Sunday. "We're doing some sightseeing today on the National Mall, taking in the Smithsonian Museums."
The last time below-freezing temperatures moved an inauguration ceremony indoors and canceled the parade was Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985. It’s a reminder of one of the many historic inauguration moments unfolding around the band.
“They have different feelings on what's about to happen. But they all recognize the gravity of our performance,” Snow said.
As a couple of of the Kansas City natives in the band shared, this performance was about more than politics.
“Doing something that we love with the people that we love,” Drum Major Marcellus Weinzierl said.
It’s about carrying on what they love, and letting music be what keeps people moving forward.
“Representing our university in a really positive and really creative and cool light,” Drum Major Sonia Brekken said.
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