{"id":22412,"date":"2026-07-16T08:40:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=22412"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:40:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:40:51","slug":"london-called-the-marching-mizzou-drumline-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/2026\/07\/16\/london-called-the-marching-mizzou-drumline-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"London called, the Marching Mizzou drumline answered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Marching Mizzou recently had the opportunity to travel abroad to perform for London Band Week. Before heading overseas, there was one thing I was looking forward to more than anything else: reconnecting with the Royal Marines drummers. We first met them in October 2025 when they traveled to Mizzou for our From the Columns to the Crown show, and I couldn’t wait to see them again in their home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Myself with Royal Marine drummer Jo Barnes, who performed at Mizzou last October in our halftime show \u201cFrom The Columns To The Crown.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was also my first time traveling outside of the United States, making every part of the experience feel exciting. The journey to London was made memorable far before we arrived. After departing from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, about one-fifth of the band landed in Germany for what was supposed to be a two-hour layover. Within minutes, we learned our connecting flight had been delayed, turning our short layover into nearly 10 hours in the Frankfurt airport. There were plenty of moments of uncertainty as we waited for updates and tried to figure out what would happen next. Thankfully, Marching Mizzou has prepared us all year for situations like these. Dr. Knopps is always reminding us to “#PauseAndPivot” whenever things don’t go according to plan, and we definitely had to follow that motto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, we were rebooked successfully and finally arrived in London later that evening. As if that wasn’t enough, the trip home managed to be just as eventful. Before we even left London, we learned that our connecting flight from Germany to St. Louis had been canceled. Everyone’s travel plans changed once again, and I ended up on a flight heading to Houston before finally making it back to St. Louis 11 hours later than originally scheduled. Altogether, I spent well over 24 hours in airports throughout the trip. Looking back, those unexpected delays truly became part of the adventure. Spending that time with some of my best friends made every delay and extended layover, something we could laugh about together afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we finally settled into London, everything was worth it. Throughout the week, Marching Mizzou performed four times, and each performance seemed more exciting than the last. We started with a performance near Tower Bridge before taking the stage at Live in London at the ExCeL London convention center. Both performances were incredible opportunities to share a little bit of Mizzou spirit with audiences from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marching Mizzou cymbal line after the performance at Tower Bridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our final day in London was unforgettable. That morning, Marching Mizzou made history as the first collegiate marching band from the United States to march down The Mall to Buckingham Palace and close the National Marching Music Day Palace Parade Review. Walking toward Buckingham Palace while spectators lined the streets was an experience unlike anything I have ever done. It truly felt like bringing a piece of game day at Faurot Field across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As amazing as that performance was, my favorite moment of the entire program came later that day during Drumline London. Eight drumlines from across the United Kingdom and the United States competed in a knockout-style tournament in St. James’s Park. We faced each group one round at a time, performing classic Marching Mizzou cadences and JB’s while the crowd cheered us on. After several intense rounds, Marching Mizzou was crowned the Drumline London champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marching Mizzou Drumline after being declared Drumline London Champions. Photo by: Sam Mohler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hearing our name announced as the winners was one of the proudest moments I’ve experienced as a member of the drumline. We were presented with a commemorative shield to celebrate our victory, and without a doubt, it became the best souvenir we could have brought home. Following our victory, Marching Mizzou had the opportunity to see London from a different perspective on a river cruise. This was a remarkable way to see London for the final time before our departure and it was a beautiful night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Me on the Marching Mizzou farewell river cruise with the championship shield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Outside of our performances, we had plenty of opportunities to experience everything London had to offer. We visited famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the London Eye, but my favorite place by far was Windsor Castle. Walking through the castle and visiting St. George’s Chapel, where Queen Elizabeth II is buried, truly felt like stepping into history. Even though photography wasn’t allowed inside, seeing such an important historical site in person is something I will always remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marching Mizzou drumline visiting Buckingham Palace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, this program gave me so much more than the opportunity to travel abroad. I reconnected with the marines we had met the year before, represented the University of Missouri on an international platform, explored places I had been seeing in pictures for the past year and shared every experience with some of my closest friends. From delayed flights and unexpected travel changes to making history and winning Drumline London, every moment became part of a story I’ll be telling for years to come and truly was the trip of a lifetime. My first trip outside of the United States exceeded every expectation I had, and I cannot wait to see what the following years of Marching Mizzou has to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marching Mizzou recently had the opportunity to travel abroad to perform for London Band Week. Before heading overseas, there was one thing I was looking forward to more than anything else: reconnecting with the Royal Marines drummers. We first met them in October 2025 when they traveled to Mizzou for our From the Columns to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[195],"class_list":["post-22412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-united-kingdom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22418,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22412\/revisions\/22418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}