YOU OWE IT TO YOUR STUDENTS! What if you could guarantee your students a concert performance in front of a packed audience, a panel of international judges and in a beautiful and revered setting?  What if you could march in a televised international parade, in front of a reviewing stand of distinguished officials and a street audience of close to a million people? What if you could literally bring history to life for your students while visiting and performing in front of world-famous places only read about until now? I am describing the New Year's Day Parade ~ London, an annual event that provides a truly magical experience for thousands of band students from all over the world. Youth Music is a proven organization of integrity and efficiency that is not only sensitive to the needs of travel for performing ensembles, but is focused on the safety and well-being of the students!

I was most impressed by the superb organisational skills that were in evidence as you provided a most memorable experience for all involved. Please know that you now have an admirer ‘across the pond’. The magnitude of your accomplishments in bringing all the elements together to make this event a success is truly staggering.

You continue to provide such incredible opportunities for the various groups who are part of your festivals; these are opportunities of untold value, and ones they will probably not truly understand until long after the fact...  My experience with you and your entire staff evidenced the fact that you do things in a first-class fashion and everyone leaves having had an incredibly positive (and educational) expeience... Clearly you are providing something well beyond what anyone else has conceived. There are many companies who are doing festivals and travel, but you are putting together some rather astounding life-changing experiences.

As a long time observer of special venues for all kinds of bands, I would like to recommend highly Youth Music's International events in London, Paris and Edinburgh.  Having observed their events gives me first hand knowledge of the magnitude of the crowds and the excitement generated among the participants. Likewise, I can without reservation say that their staff are among the most professional anywhere in the world. Needless to say the venues are incredibly beautiful with unbelievable educational opportunities for students. I never miss an opportunity to expose my students to foreign travel, for I believe that it is one of the most enlightening experiences for young people that can be afforded them in their educational process. Please give this organisation every consideration.  

The Yale Bands received an invitation from Youth Music of the World to the 1991 London Parade.  I was attracted by the opportunity for all Yale ensembles (Concert and Marching Bands, Jazz Ensemble) to tour together.  The venues for each were excellent, the prices unbeatable, the accommodations comfortable. My alumni still recall that parade as a once-in-a-lifetime happening!  My bands' performances appeared on television and radio worldwide and band members were received by dignitaries of the highest level, many of whom were patrons of the Parade.  YMOFW has an excellent production team - they are flexible yet informed, and always give the impression that they are working exclusively on YOUR group. Their organization is held in the highest regard throughout Europe as well as by the many US ensembles who have toured with them. 

Youth Music’s international events provide both students and teachers an unparalleled musical experience from an educational and cultural perspective. The events are well run, incredibly organized and the staff is teeming with professionals from the world of music education and performance.  I found my trip to be an exciting and fulfilling adventure, Experiencing life and the many cultures of our world through music. “Don’t Let The Chance Pass You By”. Experience life through music like never before with “Youth Music of the World”….

I have taken dozens of performing groups - both student and adult - on trips in the USA and in Europe during my 30-plus years as a music educator. During the last ten years, eleven of those trips were with Youth Music of the World. YMOTW is not just another tour company, but true "event organizers," and this is what sets them apart from all the rest.

Their London New Year's Day Parade is endorsed by no less than Queen Elizabeth II, and the mayors of every city in which they have an event are also firmly involved in the planning. The hotels, restaurants, resource people, tour itineraries, site inspections, and personal treatment are extremely professional and first-class all the way! If you ever want to take your group to Europe for a truly memorable and educational experience, I heartily recommend that you contact YMOTW."

The Andover High School Band and Orchestra have traveled to the U.K. 3 times under the excellent auspices of Youth Music for the World, and have been thoroughly delighted with the care and service that we have been accorded. We are planning our fourth excursion with them this coming December, having been to the London New Year’s Day Parade twice already and the Edinburgh Easter Festival once. The accommodations are first rate, and the use of a 24/7 Resource Person makes for as close to a worry free experience as is possible, given the circumstances of travel with a large group of teenagers! We have been led to amazing historical sites, and the performance opportunities in both Edinburgh and London are truly memorable. I have recommended the London Parade and the Edinburgh Easter Festival to numerous colleagues, and I have done so without the slightest reservation or concern that their trip would be anything but the finest experience possible.

I have taken a band to the New Years Day Parade in London on two different occasions. The first was right after 9/11 and the second time was the year after the bombing in London in July of 2005. Both times we were treated as Royalty and made to feel perfectly safe.  The People who run the London Parade work very hard to make you feel part of the family. I would not hesitate to take another trip to London, Paris, or any of the events that Youth Music of the World puts on. 

My first association with Youth Music of the World commenced  in 1995 when I when I received an invitation to adjudicate the London New Year’s Day Parade. This extraordinary event brings many people from different countries to perform alongside musicians of the United Kingdom and it is very evident that this is a company that only works to the very highest of standards. Music is only a part of this exteriorly parade that brings attendance of nearly a million spectators to the streets of central London. The thirty three London Boroughs process their floats, majorettes and Cheer Leaders giving then opportunity to part of this fantastic skeptical. Youth Music of the World entertains London with the most spectacular occasion that opens the New Year. Prior to the England’s largest street parade concerts are held in one of the country’s most prestige concert halls The Westminster Methodist Hall. Music of all styles, choirs and instrumentation is performed in England’s capital with music of the highest standard of excellence.

It was an honor for my bands to participate in the London Parade in 1997 and 2002. The events leading up to and including the parade organized by Bob Bone and his superb staff were meticulously planned and executed. This “once in a lifetime” event was unanimously ranked by participating students as their best high school experience. Proudly marching by the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, and Piccadilly Circus in itself is worth the trip to London. But for the Neuqua Valley Band, participating in the London Parade immediately following the events of September 11, 2001 was cathartic. At the Gala Concert, the capacity audience leaped to their feet at the conclusion of our performance of Stars and Stripes Forever. At the parade, thousands of spectators wildly cheered their support for the American bands along the entire route, providing a strong feeling of solidarity which will not fade from our collective memory. These experiences transformed the lives of our students.

It is attention to detail which provides the underpinning for any successful overseas tour. The staff of “Youth Music of the World” understands this perfectly. Anyone participating in a “Youth Music of the World” event can expect first class treatment and a positive musical and cultural experience for staff, chaperones and students alike.

In 1990 I was approached by Youth Music to perform in what was then known as The Lord Mayor’s City of Westminster New Year’s Day Parade. Deciding to accept that invitation was one of the wisest decisions I’d made in my teaching career. Robert Bone and his very capable staff made our first trip so enjoyable that we went twice more to London and once to the Maastricht Festival. There events offered educational experiences my students would never have received had we not participated in them. Youth Music has my highest recommendation. In a word…..PROFESSIONAL!!

The TIGER MARCHING BAND, has traveled the world over, participating in outstanding music events in Pasadena, New York, Miami, Washington, DC, Dublin,Toronto, Rome and London.  All have been exciting and rewarding, but none more so than Europe's   largest event, The New Year's Day Parade in London,  England. Bob Bone and his highly professional staff on both sides of the Atlantic have two priorities: an outstanding parade and the well-being of your students. Trust me. If you seek an event that provides maximum excitement, education, music and pageantry for your students, look no further. The London New Year's Day Parade is that event!

Youth Music has events that I have turned to repeatedly to provide my students with unmatched musical and cultural experiences. The thrill of marching through London in the largest parade in the world along the greatest parade route in the world can’t be beat.  In Paris we have experienced the incredible contrast of performing in Paris and the charming French town, Chantilly, where the locals love the parade. Aside from their incredible venues, I turn to Youth Music for their reliability and professionalism. When I take hundreds of students and parent supporters on a trip, I don’t want to worry about the accommodations or busses or any other logistics problems. With this company I don’t.

As directors we are approached, it seems, almost daily with offers of traveling and performing at a variety of events all over the country and world.  We have choices to make about providing travel and performance experiences that are of high educational and musical value but that also are organized and presented with integrity.

My interactions with Youth Music have been of this caliber without question.  In 2004 I brough almost 200 students and parents to London on the bands first international trip.  Youth Music handled every detail with excellent communication and follow through, even making the trip to our community to have a meeting with our parents to answer questions and address concerns. Most importantly, though, our travels provided my students with a quality musical and educational experience that we will never forget.  Seeing my students in the New Years Day Parade as they marched by the Parliament buildings  in London is something I will never forget.  In fact, the experience was so worthwhile that I am bringing my band back in 2008!

As a band director of 22 years in the Chicago area, I have been on many trips with many students. I wish to relay to you and your staff that your tour program has been the most educational and culturally diverse of any I have ever taken. Even though we traveled overseas to a different country, it felt like home and your organization made it just as comfortable and worry free as traveling in the United States. I heartily recommend this tour to all music teachers. It will be a trip of a life time for all involved.

The opportunity for the Atlee High School Band to participate in the New Year’s Parade is something for which we will always be grateful. I cam assure you that for many, it was the proudest days of our lives. The parade venue was not only about performance but also about opening our eyes and hearts to the people and sites of Greater London. The turn of every corner was an adventure and presented images we will never forget. Thank you for sharing your city and home with us.As the principal of Atlee, I am indebted to your organisation for the highest quality of management and personal concern I have ever experienced on a trip. Those individuals assigned to Atlee, Mr Johann, Mr Northen, Mr Allen and our tour guide, Lorraine, are to be commenced for their attention to detail and genuine human concern.

On behalf of the staff, students and supporters of Lake Ville Sout High School Band, I wish to extend my deepest thanks for a most memorable travel experience during the recent London New Year’s Day Parade. I’ve purposely waited to write this letter to see if my impressions would change… they have not. As a brand new school we were seeking some way to forge our identity or create a ‘signature’ for our instrumental programme. Our trip has done that, enhancing our relationships between student, staff and parents in a way I didn’t believe possible. In my twenty years of teaching high school students, I have NEVER had a more positive or rewarding student travel experience. Every aspect of the trip was thoroughly planned, educationally and musically rewarding. We enjoyed wonderful performing opportunities, outstanding sightseeing venues, and first rate accommodations and food. Your staff’s conscientious attention to detail regarding our security, and the thorough approach taken in delivering an extraordinary travel opportunity was evident in every aspect of our experience. In each instance it was obvious careful thought and consideration was given to provide our students a lifetime of memories during our week in London. I cannot believe how smoothly the entire tour went.

I know from my conversations with the students and supporters these past weeks that this was a transformative experience. They speak glowingly about both concert and parade and the appreciative audiences at each venue. This was the trip of a lifetime for our students. I can recommend Youth Music of the World with our reservation.

I just wanted to take a minute now that we have settled into our semester of school to take thank you and your staff for a tremendous trip. To be honest with you, one of the biggest reasons we decided to travel overseas again was the great job of organising that your group did with our Maastricht trip 4 years ago. Seeing first hand, on that trip how things were handled, made it easier to plunge in to this somewhat more involved trip to a much larger venue. Everyone that I came into contact with from your staff in planning our trip were always helpful and got back to me in a timely manner. I pride myself in being a detailed oriented person and sometimes I can drive people crazy with it but saw no complaints for your staff. I didn’t have one negative comment from any of our parents traveling with us about the organization or details of the trip while in London. Our kids had a trip of a lifetime and we have you and your organization to thank for that! We look forward in the future to traveling overseas with Youth Music again.

Stacey and I want to thank you and your staff for the wonderful opportunity to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade. We are grateful and thrilled that you felt our band was worthy of this honour. We have heard nothing but praise for our students since our last return. Seeing our band march up Whitehall was a moment we shall treasure the rest of our lives. January 1^st 2006 was a hallmark day for our young band. School, staff administration and parents. Furthermore, our days in London were fantastic! Each day provided some new treasure to discover. Not only were all the tours enjoyable, but educational. Our students have been sharing their newly acquired knowledge with other faculty at Lincoln Southwest. Everyone has been impressed by what these students have learned.