The Mira Mesa band, nicknamed "Sapphire Sound," will be the first from the San Diego Unified School District to appear in the Rose Parade in nearly 30 years.

The Mira Mesa High School marching band and color guard were officially invited Friday to perform at the 127th annual Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day.

While high school musicians from around the county are no strangers to the Jan. 1 Pasadena spectacle, the Mira Mesa band, nicknamed "Sapphire Sound," will be the first from the San Diego Unified School District to appear in the Rose Parade in nearly 30 years.

“Music is fundamental in any child’s education," said the school's band director Jeanne Christensen. "I believe it. Music crosses every single discipline — it crosses math, English science. People like to say that we’re an elective. We’re more than an elective.”

The Patrick Henry High School Band performed in the Rose Parade in the mid-1980s, the only other SDUSD group to do so, according to the district.

The official invitation was handed out by Tournament of Roses President Mike Matthiessen, who also gave the band a Rose Parade banner. The parade has extended invitations to 20 marching bands.

The first fundraiser to pay for the trip is scheduled for Saturday — a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. outside the high school's theater at 10510 Reagan Road.

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