New Franklin Regional Senior High School Band Director Larry Silvestri thought the toughest part of his new position would be answering thousands of questions from band members.

“When I was assistant director, I could walk down the hall with no problem,” Silvestri said with a laugh. “Now all I do is stop and answer questions.”

On top of that, Silvestri’s first year also includes planning a halftime show during a global pandemic, hosting a band camp where members couldn’t get within six feet of one another and having brass players like senior Trevor McLeigh cover the bells of their horns with their own “masks.”

“I used a book cover with rubber bands,” McLeigh said.

This year’s halftime show, themed around the music of the 1970s disco era, is significantly pared back despite the over-the-top genre in which it’s rooted.

“Not knowing if we’d get shut down or not at any time made us a little more conservative about the show,” Silvestri said. “We’re doing more or less a stand-still show, modeled on a college postgame performance.”

In place of the formation drilling that characterizes many a marching-band show, this year’s performance will include a lot more stationary playing, supplemented with a healthy dose of dancing.

For junior Elaina Ciecierski, 16, that sounded like a pretty good time.

“Usually just the band front does the dancing and most of the visual stuff,” she said.

Less drilling also has given band members more time to focus on the music.

“With the opportunity we’ve had to put so much time into the music, I’m excited to see what we can do,” said senior Domenic Colangelo, 18. “It’s a really good feeling knowing you’re pushing yourself in terms of what you can play.”

That said, keeping the halftime show energetic is also appealing to some band members.

“The dancing is a lot of fun,” said senior Keethu Shriram, 17. “Given the restrictions, we still have a good group of people in marching band.”

Because of the covid-19 pandemic, students were given a choice to opt out of marching band, but Silvestri said more than 90% of students chose to participate. This year’s band and band front has 158 members.

The pandemic also meant a later start than usual.

“They usually get music at the beginning of May,” Silvestri said. “This year they got it on the first day of band camp.”

That meant a lot more sectional rehearsals, according to senior Ethan Leicht, 17. “It’s kind of exciting to do something a little different,” Leicht said. “It’s going to look a lot different.”

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