New changes are coming to the Cinnaminson High School music department in the form of a new director of bands, but this new face is a familiar one in the district.
Dr. Nicholas DiSalvio, formerly the Director of Bands at Cinnaminson Middle School over the last several years, has transitioned upward to reprise the same role with the various bands within the high school.
Among those include the jazz band and marching band, an area of expertise that DiSalvio has ample experience in through both instruction and participation.
“In high school, I participated in a large Group IV marching band up in Manahawkin,” DiSalvio said. “I’ve taught marching band in a couple different capacities as a woodwind caption head, a marching technician, both locally here and in the Midwest.”
While his experiences definitely add up, his new position at CHS will be his first as the head marching band director.
The transition up to the high school was an easy one to make, having taught kids at the middle school level for the past four years, many of those kids will now be moving up to the high school, providing some familiar faces off the bat.
“It’s a really cool, unique opportunity for me specifically because the current senior class is the first eighth grade class that I started with,” DiSalvio said. “A lot of them I’m going to get to teach again, but at a different level.”
Preparations for the upcoming marching season have already begun as this year’s show has been chosen, a three-movement show centered around the sights and sounds of Sin City: Las Vegas, Nevada, and outdoor rehearsals have begun.
This position comes with a new set of challenges, one of which is to increase the presence and footprint of the marching band, which is roughly 30 to 35 members. For a school with a student body upwards of 850, there’s definitely room to grow
“The big thing is, we’re trying to grow the program,” DiSalvio said. “We want to be a large, welcoming program. We want to welcome a lot of students in and we already have a lot of new students this year.”
DiSalvio is undoubtedly excited about this new chapter in his career in the fine arts and having already established himself within the Cinnaminson community, it’s something he’s looking to continue for a long time.
The marching band will be performing in the area at different competitions during the course of the fall and into the early winter.
