DC-area marching bands skipping Trump’s inauguration: report

No marching bands from schools in the Washington, D.C. area have applied to perform in President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural parade in January, according to a new report.

At least one public school band from the capital’s public school system has marched in the past five inaugural parades, NBC 4 Washington noted. 

The TV station said applications to participate were due Dec. 5, and the Presidential Inaugural Committee is expected to reveal which bands were selected shortly.  

{mosads}School district representatives told the news outlet that no bands from either Virginia’s Arlington County or Maryland’s Prince George’s County had applied.

NBC 4 heard the same thing from representatives of school systems in Virginia’s Fairfax County and Maryland’s Montgomery County.

Marching bands from Howard University, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland, College Park will also be absent this year, according to the report. 

John Newson, Howard’s band director, said the D.C. school’s band has too few members and is facing budgetary constraints.

Newson told NBC 4, however, that he suspects many band directors’ and school administrators’ political beliefs played a role.

“I think everybody knows why and no wants to say and lose their job,” he said.

Eli Osterloh, the University of Maryland’s band director, said an unspoken marching band courtesy might also be a factor.

Osterloh said that some bands opt to wait about 10 years after performing in an inaugural parade before applying again so other bands can participate.