Vestavia Hills High School band Director Jerell Horton, far left, and assistant band Director Heather Palmer, far rigth, with band members, Tate Sparks, Prudence Wachira and Ashlyn Beery at band camp Monday. Band members are preparing for the upcoming football season and a trip to Italy to march in Rome’s New Year’s Day Parade.By Anne Ruisi
The Eternal City awaits members of the Vestavia Hills High School marching band and concert choir, who are heading to Italy to perform during Rome’s New Year’s Festival.
“It’s super exciting,” said band Director Jerell Horton, who recently returned from Italy after a site visit to preview what his group can expect during the upcoming eight-day trip.
Band members will march in Rome’s New Year’s Day Parade, where they’ll be joined by student marching bands from Kansas, Nevada, California, Virginia, North Carolina and Texas.
Italian groups, including costumed stilt-walkers, a cluster of Vespa sidecar tour drivers and reenactors who portray ancient Roman legionaries and other figures, also will be featured in the parade, according to the event’s website, romeparade.com/events/parade.
The parade will begin at the Piazza del Popolo, head along the Via Babuino and past the Spanish Steps, then up the Via del Corso – the 2,200-year-old main street in the center of historical Rome – to return to the starting point.
When they return, the group will remain in place and perform, Horton said.
Musical selections that the band will perform while marching and in place are being decided, the band director said.
“We do try to get as much audience engagement as we can,” Horton said, so music that’s popular around the world, such as classic R&B, Motown hits and Bruno Mars, are in the band’s regular repertoire.
They also will stage two performances in Frascati, a town outside Rome famous for the 16th and 17th century villas built by aristocrats.
The choir will appear in separate performances, including singing a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Horton said. Details will be forthcoming, as the choir just found out about the performance at St. Peter’s.
While in Rome, the group will take educational tours of the city’s landmarks, including the Coliseum, the Vatican, the catacombs and the ruins of the ancient Roman Forum. They’ll also head south toward Naples to see Pompeii, the ancient city buried under volcanic ash and pumice after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.
Travel Plans
More than 250 students will be on the trip, including 200 in the band and 55 choir members, Horton said Joining them will be 150 family members and supporters.
They depart Dec. 27, first taking buses to the Atlanta airport, where the group will split up to board five commercial flights to Rome, Horton said. They’ll return Jan. 3, just as school reopens after winter break.
“When we get back, we’ll go straight back to work,” Horton said.
The trip to Rome is the band’s third outside the country. They marched in London’s New Year’s Parade in 2010 and in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2018, Horton said.
Meanwhile, Horton and assistant band Director Heather Palmer are preparing the group for the trip, with band camp starting this week.
Fundraising for the trip is underway, as the cost for each student to travel is $3,795, Horton said. A Taste of Italy is a major fundraiser on Sept. 12 at the Vestavia Civic Center, he said. The event will feature dinner and a silent auction.
Parents are involved in that, and Horton credited them for providing “lots of good help” in that and in “coordinating such a large group.”
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