Six stellar high school bands from around the country were selected to appear in the Macy’s 97th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Thurs., Nov. 23, 2023. These bands were led by capable and accomplished music educators, and we introduce three of them to you below. We’ll introduce others in a future post.
Mercer Island High School Marching Band, Directors:
Parker Bixby, Kyle Thompson, and Jacob Krieger
The Mercer Island High School Band (MIHS), known as “The Pride of the Island,” represented the Pacific Northwest in this year’s parade. The 300-member group was led by co-directors Parker Bixby, Kyle Thompson, and Jacob Krieger.
Parker Bixby, music educator at Mercer Island High (MIHS), is one of three co-directors of the school’s marching band. Photo credit: MIHS
The first co-director of the Mercer Island Band is Parker Bixby. Parker has taught at Mercer Island High School since 1995. “The Macy’s Parade is, for high school band program, nothing short of a bucket list experience,” remarked Parker. “Macy’s represents the ultimate opportunity for students, staff, and community to come together in pursuit of a once in a lifetime performance experience in front of the nation,” he continued.
Parker earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Washington. He earned his Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Montana. He is a member of The Washington Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Educators.
Music educator Kyle Thompson is one of three co-directors of the Mercer Island High School Band. Photo credit:MIHS
The second co-director of this band is Kyle Thompson. Kyle earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Central Washington University. Previous Education positions include Director of Bands at Cedarcrest High School in Duvall Washington, Consultant with the UCLA Marching Band, Program Coordinator with the Central Washington University Marching Band, Director of Education and Brass Caption Supervisor of the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps, Brass educational faculty of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps from Rosemont Illinois, and Brass Caption Supervisor of the Troopers Drum and Bugle corps from Casper, Wyoming. He is an active member of the National Association for Music Education and the Washington Music Educators Association.
The third director who leads the Mercer Island High School Band is music educator Jacob Krieger. Photo credit: MIHS
Jacob Kreiger is the third co-cirector of this amazing band. Jacob earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a second Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance with a Jazz Studies Certificate from Central Washington University (CWU). In addition to his work with high school students, Jacob has toured with a professional jazz band to China and Taiwan.
The MIHS Marching Band is a non-competitive, entertainment-focused ensemble that performs regularly for local, national, and international events. In addition to this year’s Macy’s Parade, the group has performed in the Tournament of Roses Parade four times. They also performed with American rapper and singer Macklemore as part of the 2022 Seahawks NFL home opener. Mercer Island High School has been selected as a Grammy Signature School twice, and the city of Mercer Island is a two-time recipient of NAMM’s “Best Communities for Music Education” designation.
