The Revere High School (RHS) Marching Band performed and hosted the nineteenth annual Revere Invitational to raise money for future experiences.
An invitational is a marching band competition that follows rules from the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA). This means Revere’s event runs just like other official band contests across the state, so scores and feedback receive serious attention. This year, twelve high school marching bands performed at Revere’s invitational.
At the invitational, each of the twelve invited high school marching bands performs a production with music, marching and visual storytelling with a “theme” they create. Seven trained judges score them on different areas such as sound quality, marching skills, percussion and color guard. During the shows, judges walk on the field for a close look at the performers, and runners hurry to deliver score sheets to the tent. At the end of the event, judges rank the bands and award trophies. The judges announced that Revere, along with other top qualifying groups, will compete at the state level. The invitational happens in the middle of the marching season, giving bands important feedback to make their shows stronger.
The Revere Music Parents Association (RMPA) sponsors the event with the help of dozens of volunteers who manage food, parking and logistics. Revere’s band director and host chair, Tom Chiera, leads the event and ensures everything meets OMEA’s standards.
Chiera said that the biggest challenge as a host is “making sure that all the parts and pieces are in the right place and moving the right way for such a big event to run smoothly for everyone.”
Additionally, Chiera said, “When you have hundreds of people coming to campus for something, just the sheer magnitude of everything that has to go right the day of, but also everything that has to be set up really, really well becomes super important.”
Chiera also said that part of running a “positive and enjoyable event” includes making sure the Revere marching band has the opportunity to “put on the best show of the year and just really shine under the lights.”
Revere’s marching band has about 80 students split into the brass, woodwinds, percussion and color guard sections. The group has a large student leadership team with around 30 leaders, including a drum major and section leaders. Sousaphone player in the low brass/tuba section, band council historian and achievement leader, Ruby Aldrich reflected on her roles.
“I run social media, send flyers and things out like that. . . . I’m also . . . an achievement leader, so I help make sure that everybody’s checking off the music, making sure they’re memorizing it and playing it right,” Aldrich said.
This year’s show is called In Perspective. The idea is about how people see things differently. On the field, bright colored cubes, bought from a professional band, create different effects depending on where the audience is sitting.
Aldrich said, “Wherever you’re sitting—in the stands or in the audience—you’re going to see a different show because you’re going to see different colors through the cubes.”
Like many marching shows, it is still being finished as the season goes on. The band is adding drill moves and polishing routines each week, aiming for completion by the Avon Lake invitational on October 4.
Assistant Marching Band Director Montana Fassnacht said, “Our show never is truly done. There’s always something that we’re tweaking, something that we’re changing.”
A “tag ending” in the show gives a sense of completion even when the full performance is not finished. Judges and experienced musicians can often tell when the show is not fully complete, but they accept this as part of the process.
The band practices every day during fifth-period and has three-hour long rehearsals once a week. They usually focus on small sections first, like choreography and transitions, then connect everything into a full performance. The color guard practices with the band most of the time, though they sometimes break off to work on their own routines.
Aldrich commented on the band saying they rely on each other for motivation.
“If my neighbors or if my section’s energy is down, I might try and get my energy up,” Aldrich said.
One of the parts of the Invitational that gets the most attention is the Pie Tent. It is a fundraiser where parents and students sell a wide variety of pies, and some volunteering students even dress up in pie costumes to bring in customers. The tent has become a community tradition that people look forward to every year. Both Chiera and Fassnacht emphasized the excitement of the pie tent:
“The pie tent . . . has become the talk of our activity in the community,” Chiera said.
“The biggest draw to this invitational every year is always the infamous pie tent,” Fassnacht said.
Revere band members face the challenge of balancing volunteer duties throughout the day with delivering a strong final performance later on. Volunteer jobs include working at the pie tent as well as selling food, setting up and tearing down equipment such as tents, benches and field markings and “shepherding” or guiding visiting bands around campus. The water tent also distributes cups to bands before and after their performances. Aldrich further explained the role of “Shepherds.”
“Shepherds walk visiting bands around campus [and] get them warmed up and ready for their performance.”
Even students from choir, orchestra and sports teams pitch in to volunteer. These roles make the Invitational a team effort for the whole school community.
Money raised at the Invitational supports the band program. This year, a big part of the funds went towards supporting show expenses and travel funds including flying instruments and equipment for the band’s trip to Disney World in February and March.
Revere also sold custom t-shirts at the event with the names of all the bands competing. The Invitational was open to the public and began in the evening. Revere’s performance concluded the event. Tickets cost ten dollars, or eight dollars if bought at the gate. More information is available at reveremusic.org for the next Invitational and future events.
Dr. Darren LeBeau started the Revere Invitationals nineteen years ago. Since then, it has grown in size and reputation. Even when the weather has been rainy or windy, the event has still gone on. Revere has become a popular site for visiting schools, which is why many return year after year.
