‘Introducing in her first year as the Woman Up Front from Chelsea, Mich., Kelly Bertoni’

By Crystal Hayduk

When the Michigan Marching Band takes the field for the first home football game of the season on Sept. 8, Chelsea’s Kelly Bertoni will be the Woman Up Front.

On April 21, the 2016 Chelsea High School (CHS) grad was named University of Michigan’s 55th drum major — the third female in Michigan’s history to earn the title and the first Chelsea graduate to high step into The Big House baton in hand.

And if that’s not enough pressure, more than 100,000 fans will expect her to perform the famous backbend, without her hat, a traditional move of Michigan drum majors during the pregame show.

Bertoni says she’s prepared for it, as the backbend is part of the CHS pregame ritual, so she’s done it before.

“It’s an exciting component of the show,” she says. “I’ve been working on it for quite a while, but I also think I’ve been blessed with a flexible back.”

Being drum major in Chelsea during her junior and senior years solidified her desire to be a drum major in college, too.

But this is a dream come true.

Bertoni, who will be a junior in the fall, is double majoring in organizational studies and communication studies in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

She is also a music minor who has been a member of the clarinet section of the Marching Band, the Basketball Pep Band, and a Clarinet Choir, performing many genres of music between the three groups.

In addition to her music performance with the band, Bertoni serves as Corresponding Secretary of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. She said that functioning in this role is one of the ways that she gives back to the band, which has become her “family” on the U of M campus.

“There’s a brotherhood with bands across the country, and as corresponding secretary, I reach out to alumni and members at other colleges; I help organize gifts to give to colleges that visit our campus,” she says.

The three-part demanding interview and audition series began last January, with expressed interest and preparation beginning months before that. Although U of M’s Director of Bands Dr. John Pasquale leads the process, band staff and the 401 current members are involved in the decision.

As of the morning of April 21, three of the initial 18 candidates remained. By late afternoon, Bertoni was chosen.

“I consider myself truly blessed and honored,” said Bertoni. “When they made the announcement, I said a prayer of thanks and gave hugs to Nico [Laenen] and Tony [Mufarreh], the other finalists. They both exhibited hard work, dedication and great skills.”

To celebrate, Bertoni and friends went to Washtenaw Dairy in Ann Arbor, where she ate Moose Tracks ice cream. “I had cut sugar out of my diet as a discipline throughout my training,” she says, equating the physical exertion required of marching band performers to athletic activities.

Then she came home to Chelsea to spend the night with her family and attend church with them on Sunday morning, before heading back to the Ann Arbor campus to do some last-minute studying for winter term’s final exams.

Bertoni was so excited that it was hard to sleep the first night after the announcement. “There’s going to be lots to do and it’s still sinking in,” she sayes.

She outlined drum major responsibilities as extending beyond the pre-game rituals, iconic backbend, and performances with the Michigan Marching Band. Bertoni will also work behind-the-scenes as a representative of the diverse members of the band and University of Michigan students, talking to alumni and donors, meeting people, and helping band staff with auditions and camps.

Bertoni credits the support she’s received from her family – parents Susan and Rob, along with her siblings Daniel, Colleen, and Patrick – and friends, as well as the community of Chelsea, including the school district and its teachers, for helping to make her dream a reality. “I had no idea that I could realistically continue to do music at this level once I got to college,” she says.

“The opportunities are incredible. But once I talked to other students, it opened my eyes to how really remarkable the Chelsea School District is, with its emphasis on music and the arts,” she says, adding, “We just have so much access here – from early music education to band, orchestra and choir options beginning in fifth grade; and all the smaller groups as we get older, like Chelsea House Orchestra, jazz band, and Company C. I’ve come to truly appreciate it, especially because so many other students did not have these types of opportunities.”

CHS Band Director Rick Catherman, who has known Bertoni for much of her life, said that she not only has a passion for music, but compassion and kindness for others.

“Kelly dedicated the work and time to become the leader she is today… She is a hard worker, approaches her goals with a tremendous work ethic, and goes out of her way to make sure everyone that she works with realizes their importance and purpose.”

She served on staff for the CHS marching band last summer and plans to serve as clarinet and marching instructor for the 2018 summer band camp.

“We are fortunate to have such a strong young leader willing to come back to Chelsea and serve as an instructor. Her musicianship, leadership, and character provide a great example for our students to follow,” he says.

While Catherman had high praise for Bertoni, she is grateful to him and her middle school band teacher, Jim Otto, for supporting her interests and helping to give her the skills to get to this point.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to serve the Michigan Marching Band in a position of leadership, but it’s an even greater opportunity to give back to a group that’s given so much to me. It would be easy to get lost on a campus with [more than 40,000] students, but being in the band is like having a big extended family,” Betoni says.

This fall, when the Michigan Marching Band plays, “The Victors,” you’ll need to look closely, but it will be Bertoni leading the way.