His eyes widened at the notification.

“We are glad to offer you a membership to the Santa Clara Vanguard.”

In the next five seconds, senior Chris Bertulfo jumped out of his seat and ran to his director’s room, still in disbelief. He made it.

Chris discovered his passion for music when he was in sixth grade after joining Killian Middle School’s choir and band. After continuing his pursuit in music for the next six years, he was accepted into the Santa Clara Vanguard — a competitive marching band team for the Drum Corps International (DCI) — in December and will begin competing this summer.

“I wanted to follow my brother’s footsteps,” Chris said. “He was in Killian’s choir, and then I heard that Killian’s band was super renowned, and they had done a lot. I thought I should give that a try.”

Chris played trumpet in middle school, but said he fell out of love with it due to the strict schedule. He decided not to join the band his freshman year and instead enrolled in all honors classes, but it all changed after watching the band perform in 2022.

“It wasn’t until a football game [when] they played the opening to ‘PenStriped,’” Chris said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I need to be part of [this.]’ That’s what sparked another burning flame inside that [reunited] the passion of trumpet for me.”

He rejoined band his sophomore year, which he said put him at a disadvantage. Despite this, he earned a spot as a primary marcher that year, and the band went on to win the Bands of America Super-Regional competition. 

“Whenever you are taking a gap year, it takes a while to get fundamentally back up,” assistant band director Brock Alsaffar said. “But he’s been naturally good at [band,] and [is] a hard worker in general.”

After this year’s marching season, Chris auditioned for multiple drum corps including Blue Devils, Bluecoats and Santa Clara Vanguard. The audition process begins with either a video or in-person audition. If the auditionee is selected for a callback, they are invited to a camp for further evaluation. 

“They [were] very friendly and charismatic,” Chris said. “They encourage you to go meet a lot of people and make friends. One of my favorite parts [was] the social aspect.”

Every month, the team holds a rehearsal camp. Chris practices every day and submits a set amount of measures each week in order to prepare for the camp.

“He leveled up his intensity, which is crazy because he’s such an intense person when it comes to band,” Chris’ mom, Joyce Bertfulo, said. “He was doing a lot more practicing. He was taking time out of his day to go to school, to practice on the marching field, and all these things that [are] completely voluntary.”

Santa Clara is one of the 13 founding member corps of the DCI, and they have won the DCI World Championship title seven times. Chris is the first Hebron alum to make the team.

“[I had] a lot of self doubt and worry, because you don’t know what they think about you until you know it,” Chris said. “So I have to do the best I can to get it to the best of my standards, which I don’t know if [I can. Sometimes,] I’m not able to focus on Vanguard as much as I’m able to, because I have seven other pieces to be preparing for, [whether it’s] Hebron [band] or choir.”

Although the Santa Clara Vanguard has facilities in Dallas and Fort Worth, they are based in Santa Clara, CA. Once the DCI season starts, Chris will travel with the team throughout the U.S. from July to August.

“I had to do everything by myself, [but] all the finances were handled by my parents,” Chris said. “The biggest thing was putting myself out there, which I know I’ve done before with band and choir, but it’s different when you’re alone.”

Along with band, Chris is a part of varsity a capella choir and has played ensemble in the school musical every year. Since joining DCI, Chris has chosen to dedicate himself to practicing by dropping his academics to on-level classes. Joyce said Chris is her only child who decided to wholeheartedly pursue an extracurricular.

“He taught me that excellence comes in so many forms,” Joyce said. “It’s not just about the grades or the honor roll or the Honor Society. It’s watching him excel in something that so few people can excel in. It makes me really proud.”

Chris said he’s not actively seeking a career in music, but he wants to keep playing trumpet as a hobby after his time in Santa Clara Vanguard.

“I’d love to [pursue a career in music,] but it’s just not on the table financially,” Chris said. “If I keep it as a hobby, I get to do things that I want, and  still get to keep that love for it, which includes drum corps. I love marching and playing cool music.”