HAMMOND – They arrive for band class at 7:30 a.m. every school day, spend their study periods rehearsing, take their musical instruments home to practice, march in parades in all kinds of weather and entertain at halftime of home football games.
So it is only fair that all 50 members of the Bishop Noll Institute Band will spend the New Year’s Day holiday enjoying sunny Florida weather as participants in the Reliaquest (formerly Outback) Bowl national high school band competition and performance.
“These kids have a special gift, and they want to give back to the community. The fruits of their hard work are paying off with the honor of representing the state of Indiana in Florida,” said Rocco Carioto, BNI band director.
The band participated in the Chicago Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 10 and was voted Overall Best Band, receiving a first prize of $1,000. The band’s next parade performance took place on Nov. 5 at the Hammond Veteran Appreciation Day Parade, traveling from Olcott Avenue down 173rd Street and ending at the Hessville Park Veterans Memorial.
BNI’s Mariachi Band also gives back to the community, most recently performing at Burns-Hicks (formerly Maywood) Elementary School in Hammond to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month.
“We were actually supposed to perform at the Outback Bowl two years ago, but then COVID-10 hit and everything was cancelled,” Carioto explained. “Last May, when I saw our numbers were healthy again, I felt we were ready and I filled out the application, which the organizers called “a formality” since we had already been approved.
“Usually, they select two bands from every region of the U.S., but I found out we are the only band from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, so we are not only representing our school and state, but the entire Midwest,” he added. “There will be 11 bands participating from throughout the country.”
This year’s bowl trip follows a successful Liberty Bowl appearance in 2016 and a New York City Concert Tour that included a performance at Carnegie Hall and a music lesson with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra director.
“My goal is to alternate every two years with a concert tour and then a bowl trip, so a four-year band member should have the opportunity to participate once in each,” Carioto added. “I like to pick a bowl game where the band performs a lot; that’s why we are there.”
The 50 BNI band members all perform in the marching/concert band, but can also opt for the popular, rock, jazz and mariachi bands that offer added variety.
“At first I was anxious (about the bowl game trip), but then I thought, ‘This is gonna be fun,’” said Indigo Moore, a junior trombone player from Whiting. “I get to play music and potentially win stuff, and in the Jazz Band contest, I do vocals and play trombone.”
Arianna Magallanes, a junior from Hammond, does double duty as a trumpeter and first drum major. “I am nervous to perform in such a huge (65,890-capacity) stadium, but the drum majors are trying to come up with a dance routine to jazz it up,” she said.
Drummer Alessandra Lopez, a junior from Hammond, is proud to follow in the footsteps of her mother, a BNI mariachi band member who encouraged her daughter to learn a musical instrument. “I chose drums to get out my frustrations,” she said, “but I like how they sound and they are cool.” Lopez, a section leader, is looking forward not only to performing, but “to staying in a hotel in Florida and going to a theme park.”
Sophomore Lizbeth Gonzalez, from Hammond, learned the trumpet at St. Casimir School, where Carioto also instructs, but after the COVID-19 break, switched to the tuba. “The best thing about the trip is the competition; I like the rush of serious preparation,” Gonzalez noted. “Traveling by bus, I’m looking forward to getting everybody’s heart in the right place and coming together for a cause.”
That bus will depart Dec. 29 for the 22-hour drive to Florida and Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where the itinerary includes a day at the beach before band competition on Dec. 31, followed by a semi-formal New Year’s Eve Party back at the hotel. On Jan. 1, all bands will gather for a full day of fun at Busch Gardens, followed by an awards dinner. All 11 bands will also squeeze in a mass rehearsal for the combined halftime show on Jan. 2, while the first-place winner will perform a pre-game concert on the field.
“After the game, the kids will change into their pajamas and the bus will take off for home,” added Carioto, who spent a long stint working with his mentor, Frank Manna, at Marist High School in Chicago before succeeding Manna as band director at his alma mater for several years, followed by three years at Providence High School in Chicago. There he grew the band from 25 to 82 musicians, and he has come a long way in 11 years at Noll, where he started with five musicians.
“The only thing we could form on the field was an ‘I,’” joked Carioto, who added to the alphabet with 14 instrumentalists the next year and steadily upped the count until COVID-19 threatened to wipe out all of his progress.
He refused to give in, read up on the spread of COVID-19 aerosols and met with BNI principal Lorenza Jara Pastrick to develop a plan allowing the band to keep meeting when in-person classes resumed in the fall of 2020. “We moved to the cafeteria, where we could spread out, and put covers on the bells of the instruments,” Carioto explained.
“Even now, with only 40 minutes of class time a day, the students have to do a lot of practicing at home, and I hold Zoom meetings in the evening. I have three tonight - with the newcomers, then the drummers and finally some potential musicians. While a number of area high schools have seen marching bands dwindle to fewer than 20 members or disband completely, Carioto has found a recipe for success.
“First, you’ve got to make it fun, even with high standards,” he said. “Second, with all the STEM programs being added and the emphasis on sports, you have to be flexible. Our principal is great, so supportive, and worked with me to carve out a ‘zero hour,’ when nothing can compete with band, which is how we ended up with a 7:30-8:10 a.m. class.
“I work with the parents on drop-off times, and other teachers are very supportive, too. Some schools don’t allow band members to play sports, but we work together,” he noted.
The cost of the trip is $1,200 per student, but Carioto expects fundraising to reduce that cost to $300-350. “We have sent out flyers and contacted band alumni, and the response has been tremendous. One alumnus sent in a donation and a note that said, ‘We want to make sure that no one gets left behind.’
The band has held fundraisers, too, performing a free Autumn/Halloween Concert on Oct. 23 and inviting guests to check out the savings offered at a mattress sale the same day in the BNI fieldhouse.
The bowl trip coincides with an ongoing effort to organize alumni chapters and associations affiliated through sports, clubs and geography. Any BNI band alumni interested in helping the band achieve its goals can contact Director of Advancement Ryan Julian at RJulian@BishopNoll.org.
“Good posture means good music,” Carioto often reminds his band members, who are indeed standing tall this year.