Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

N.C. A&T marching band will perform at Tournament of Roses Parade

A Triad marching band will be high-stepping at the Tournament of Roses Parade next week.  

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will briefly take the spotlight at the 135th Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day.

A&T’s Blue and Gold Marching Machine is one of 20 bands selected to participate in the event. The Blue and Gold band is made up of roughly 200 members from a variety of majors and concentrations.

The parade will cap an eventful year for the Marching Machine, which recently won the 2023 Division I HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) band of the year title.

N.C. A&T Director of bands Kenneth Ruff calls the Tournament of Roses invite “a tremendous honor and opportunity,” noting how hard the members work year round performing at various school and community functions.

The A&T musicians will join other bands hailing from around the world, including Costa Rica, Japan and Sweden.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is expected to be viewed by 46 million people worldwide.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate