Novice Indonesian Marching Band to Debut in Rose Parade

The century-old Tournament of Roses Parade takes to the streets New Year’s Day with millions of flowers, amazing floats and some of the world’s most distinguished marching bands.

Then there’s a group of Indonesian musicians who just months ago couldn’t play trumpets and trombones.

The 140-member Sampoerna Band Indonesia will be its country’s first representatives in Monday’s parade, tournament officials said.

The band has been practicing furiously.

Even their director, Thom Jenkins, didn’t know at first if they’d be ready. Now, he said, they are.

“They really have worked extremely hard,” Jenkins said during a recent telephone interview from Surabaya, the Indonesian city of 4 million people in East Java where the band is based.

“Marching band instruments are not their native instruments, so when we started they didn’t even know what a trumpet was supposed to sound like,” he said.

He has drilled the musicians, two-thirds of whom are women, for 40 hours a week for 11 months. The band has also marched and marched and marched, three to four miles a day in the Indonesian heat.

Jenkins, who moved from Atlanta to Indonesia early this year to work with the band, said the ensemble submitted an audition tape to tournament officials because “we wanted to shoot for the top.”

“Even over here the Rose Parade is known as the world’s premier parade.”

When they learned of their acceptance, Jenkins said, the band members were thrilled. “I wish you could have seen their faces,” he said.