As the school day begins, Tom Chiera, Revere’s new Band Director, does not enter a room full of high school students. Instead, he starts his day surrounded by fifth graders. While spending the early morning hours with elementary students seems like a far cry from the responsibilities of a high school director to Chiera, the time is essential. Chiera opens his day with students on the first step of their musical journey. While it contrasts his primary duties to a high degree, he continues through the belief that it is just the first step toward maintaining a top-tier program.
Following the retirement of longtime Director Dr. Darren LeBeau, Revere hired Tom Chiera to take the reins of the musical program. Chiera’s introduction brings a wealth of experience and a new perspective to the program in hopes of continuing the group’s long-term success.
Experience is essential to success, so when Revere considered applicants to take over the music program, it was a key factor. Chiera served as Norton’s band director for sixteen years before coming to Revere, another program with long-term success. So, when he has to tackle the numerous challenges a director must face, he does so with a wealth of knowledge behind him. Chiera explained some of his responsibilities as director and his ways of tackling them.
“I’m responsible for leading the marching band program during the fall and the concert band program once that wraps up. I try to tackle the high school program in a way that creates positive experiences for all of our students. I am also responsible for the beginning band program at Bath, and I help out at the middle school with their band,” Chiera said.
Leaving a job for anyone is a difficult decision, but for someone in Chiera’s position, that choice can be even more difficult. When a band director takes on a new job, they meet not only new coworkers but the numerous students that make the band possible, creating a multitude of relationships within a whirlwind of time. Chiera spoke on the challenges he has faced with his new position.
“I think [the biggest challenge] with any large group is being a leader and kind of unifying everybody, finding commonality so that everyone can work towards a common goal and can build positive relationships so there’s mutual trust, which is really hard to do coming in year one,” Chiera said.
Organizing a band requires a high level of expertise across multiple facets of music, but to lead as a director involves a very different skill set. Chiera must understand his students’ strengths and implement them into the band in an effective manner to ensure success, an aspect of his job far removed from instruments. Chiera explained what he believes is his most substantial quality as a director.
“I feel very confident saying that anything I’m asking those students to do, I can do as well. I’m not going to put them in a scenario that I know is anything less than desirable for their growth and their ability to prepare for performance or train or develop their own skills. So, I want to be able to set that example for them and model what I expect of them. I want to work hard. I want to problem solve,” Chiera said.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of Chiera’s job going into this year was entering a new space with new faces and students. While Chiera noted that Revere shares many similarities with Nortons band program, he noted some things that stood out to him about Revere.
“I’ve noticed there is a strong sense of student unity. I think they stand by each other, and they want to do things together. They want that collective spirit; it is inspiring. You know, they are in it together, which is cool. I am just trying to jump in with them and keep things going,” Chiera said.
While Chiera’s time at Revere has just begun, he has already experienced moments that he is proud of. Every year, Revere hosts the Minutemen Band Invitational. This event brings several schools together to compete at the high school, and as director, Chiera is responsible for its management. He explained the effort planning the event takes and his pride in its completion.
“I am super proud that we got through our invitational as successfully as we did. That project took on, I mean, students, parental volunteers; it took everyone on campus. To be able to welcome eight visiting schools, get them in and out of the stadium, perform well, get them home safe, that is a huge undertaking and it went really smoothly. We also did really well at the end of the night,” Chiera said.
When managing a group as large as a band, one person cannot ensure that each piece of the group runs to the highest degree. Due to this, Chiera relies on Assistant Band Director Montana Fassnacht, another new addition to Revere’s band program. Chiera and Fassnacht work as a team to ensure the band’s success, with Chiera taking on big picture items while Fassnacht focuses on the day to day operations of the band. Fassnacht explained some of her roles.
“[I do] everything. Setting things up for rehearsal, making sure grades are in, interacting with students, even sometimes conducting the Star-Spangled Banner at the football games. It kind of just depends. A lot of the same stuff that the head director would do, but he has the final say in all of the band’s decisions,” Fassnacht said.
For a band to function, strong relationships and trust must exist, and while it may be the first time the two have worked together, Chiera and Fassnacht are far from strangers. Fassnacht explained her relationship with Chiera.
“We have now known each other for a really long time, but we’ve only worked together for three months now. Mr. Chiara and I were good friends and colleagues prior to coming to Revere together, we both also had a really good relationship with the previous director, Dr. LeBeau,” Fassnacht said.
Fassnacht, as an assistant director, follows a similar schedule to Chiera throughout the day, meaning she is also involved with teaching at the elementary level. She provided background into what those responsibilities entail and the impact she believes it has.
“Mr. Chiera and I both start our days at Bath Elementary teaching the fifth grade beginning band, and then we both go to the middle school and help Ms. Pfluger, the band director at the middle school, with some lessons,” Fassnacht said.
Chiera and Fassnacht would not help young students grow if it did not have an impact. Every time they help a emerging student they are helping to enrich the future of the band program and making connections that last. Fassnacht what the time means to her.
“It’s cool because I get a chance to meet kids that will eventually be up here in high school. And so it’s nice to be able to know some names and some faces. I’m looking forward to years down the road when I can see them in the hallways here,” Fassnacht said.
Choosing a new band director is not an easy decision. A school’s band director is the face of one of the schools largest organizations, therefore representing the school in a great number of ways. Along with the input of many district administrators, high school principal Dr. Andy Peltz was a member of the group responsible for hiring a new director. Peltz explained what he saw in Chiera that made him stand out as an applicant.
“I saw him as a teacher who happens to be a really excellent band director as well. The way he talked about the holistic development of kids and making the experience not only enjoyable but enriching to their whole experience, you could tell he not only was passionate about music but passionate about educating kids. Those were all things we really wanted to have at Revere,” Peltz said.
The commitment Chiera places into the Revere Band program on every level is shown in the group’s success. The hours he spends early in the morning, surrounded by fifth graders sew the seeds for that success to grow.
To read more about Revere’s band click HERE
