Shorecrest High School Highlander Marching Band in final rehearsal for its trip to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day

The Shorecrest High School Highlander Marching Band, consisting of over 100 musicians accompanied by bagpipers, Highland Dancers and Flags, will make its fifth trip to Dublin, Ireland to appear in the St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17.

Saturday parade route through Briarcrest

The Band, Flag team and Highland Dancers will hold a rehearsal parade at 10 am Saturday, March 10 prior to the band’s trip departure. The band will be marching on 25th Avenue Northeast in front of the school and through the surrounding Briarcrest neighborhood.

The Shorecrest delegation of 170 will include 113 band members, seven pipers, 10 flag team members, seven members of the Highland Dancers team, and 32 staff and parents. This year’s band is led by senior drum major Matthew Demmert-Fletcher and band directors Vince Caruso and Alec Wilmart.

The band is an all-volunteer ensemble that rehearses outside of class time and prides itself on its Scottish heritage, proudly wearing the traditional kilt and uniform of the Clan Gordon. The drum line is the heart of the band and their red jackets distinguish its members. Shorecrest is unique among American high schools in that it boasts a bagpipe band, offering bagpipes as a music class. The pipers perform at many school events.

Shorecrest will arrive in Dublin on March 15 and return home March 25. They will march and perform in parades in Dublin and Celbridge on St. Patrick’s Day and later in Limerick. In addition to the parades, the band will perform in the town square of the city of Cobh and tour many sites in Ireland, including Cork, the Blarney Castle, Killarney and the Rock of Cashel. Students and their families have raised more than $40,000 “Dublin Dollars” to help defray the cost of the trip.

Shorecrest travels to Ireland every four years so that students can have this opportunity once in their high school career. In its last appearance in 2008, Shorecrest was selected as Best Youth Band in the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Over the school’s 50-year history, the band has performed in numerous local, national and international parades.