Just a month after the start of school, Bishop Guertin’s music department is already hard at work preparing for an eventful year.

Three choral programs are running this year, all directed by Holly Krafka. The new Monday Night Chorus and the intro to singing course will join the Honors Chorus for some of their numbers during the holiday concert on Dec. 10.

The BG Jazz Ensemble, after having an unprecedented number of students interested in joining, has completed auditions and is ready to get to work on its selection of jazz standards.

The highlight of the music department so far has been the Cardinal Marching Band. The band performs its field show, the music of Queen, at all of the home football games.

The show includes "We Will Rock You," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," which features a trumpet solo by junior Nick Kathios.

Drum majors Ben Gambuzza and Tom Lampognana, both seniors, work alongside band director Brian Starck to conduct the marching band, which doubles as the BG concert band.

Over the past few years, the Bishop Guertin music department has undergone many changes, the most significant being its considerable growth since Starck’s arrival in 2011.

"The bands have grown in both quantity and quality," he said, adding that more musicians have started performing in multiple ensembles and often on multiple instruments.

Krafka is in her second year of teaching at BG, and her focus has remained the same since she started. "My goal continues to be to allow everyone who wants to sing to have the opportunity," she said.

Starck is looking forward to giving his students a more difficult repertoire and additional opportunities now that the music program is on the rise at BG, and a great source of pride for him is that this year’s marching band is comparable in size to the football team.

"I’ve been very excited about our marching band," he said. "We’ve accomplished a lot more than we have in the past, and it’s really tremendous."

Perhaps the biggest factor in getting more students involved is the camaraderie of the music department, which extends to new members as soon as they enter.

"It was really, really welcoming," said chorus freshman Bradyn Radford; her classmate Katie Fox agreed that chorus is already her favorite class.

Sophomore Julia Loudenback summed it up: "Everybody in music comes together."

Popular events for the musicians include the Red Bird Jazz Club, which Krafka and Starck started last year, and the music department trip. With these opportunities and many more, the BG music program is hitting a high note and ready to continue its rapid growth.

Holly Boivin is a sophmore at Bishop Guertin High School.