Aaron Kroening is the drum major for the LaPorte High School marching band. Kroening is a senior that has been involved in the marching band for three years and has been playing music since he was eight years old.
“When I was about eight I started playing the guitar and that kick-started me to get into the band program in sixth grade, which then led me to join the marching band program when I was a sophomore,” Kroening said.
When Kroening joined the band program in sixth grade, he began playing the clarinet. He continued to play both clarinet and guitar throughout middle school and high school and was able to play both instruments in the marching band after he joined.
Kroening joined the LaPorte High School marching band when he was a sophomore because of the positive things he heard about it from his friends. He explained how their attitudes and expressions influenced him to join.
“There were a couple of things that made me want to hop into marching band. Namely, the biggest draw that got me thinking about it was honestly the look on all my other friends' faces when they were talking about it,” Kroening said. “They were all absolutely ecstatic about marching band, and I'm just like, ‘I have to do that now.’”
Kroening had a guitar feature, or what some consider a guitar solo, within the show they put on his first year. That first year introduced him to the passion and dedication that he would have for the rest of high school.
“I ended up absolutely loving marching band itself. I regret not starting sooner. If I have any regrets about high school or music in general. It's not starting sooner in the marching band,” Kroening said.
During his first year in marching band, Kroening was inspired by his teachers, directors, and the drum major at the time to work towards becoming drum major. Being able to help the band and be there for people who need it was very important to him.
“It started with the drum major of my rookie year, Matt Knouse, who I am lucky enough to remain friends with today. He gave an example of a person that I wanted to aspire to be: someone that you could go to if you had an issue or someone that would be there for you. It was awesome to see that and I decided I have to do that,” said Kroening. “I wanted to be able to give someone the same inspiration for that program and for music in general that he helped to give me. I wanted to give at least an ounce of that back.”
Being a drum major comes with many responsibilities. Kroening knew this when he decided to begin working toward the goal of becoming drum major.
“A drum major doesn't do a whole lot of marching,” Kroening said. “The drum major is essentially the conductor of the band. That is the main part of a drum major's job. However, a drum major is also there to facilitate the growth of people, to help lead the leaders, to help lead the entire band in general, and to help do all of the administrative things that the directors may not have time for. A drum major is a conductor and a leader of a marching band.”
In order to gain experience before taking on this position, he auditioned to be section leader of the clarinets and saxophones during 2020. Holding this position during COVID-19 put more weight on his shoulders, but he still thrived as a leader. He explained how this position helped him develop his leadership style and helped him figure out how he wanted to go about leading the entire band.
“It was that year, if any, that I needed to be a leader because of how immense the weight of the world was at that point. Being a leader helped to give me something to hold on to to keep me grounded in that moment. That moment I realized I have to be drum major next year; I have to do it because if it's like leading on any bigger of a scale, I will love it. It was rough, and it's hard to say, but I wouldn't trade that experience of absolute craziness for the world,” said Kroening.
Kroening was the only senior that had previous leadership experience within the marching band, so he was setting himself up for success even before the drum major interview process. The interview process consisted of conducting a piece, getting critiqued, and then conducting the same piece again taking into consideration the feedback, submitting a number of essays, and an in-person interview with the directors of the marching band.
After going through the interview process, the day he found out he was drum major finally came.
“It felt so unbelievably good to see ‘Drum Major Aaron Kroening,’ and seeing that took a huge weight off of my shoulders, but also put a new one on. But the one that I put on, I was happy about,” Kroening said.
Being drum major means supporting and leading the entire band to success. Kroening was extremely dedicated to his role and he strived to be the best leader he could be for the members of the La Porte High School marching band.
“My favorite part about being drum major is seeing all of the people respond to how music has affected them and seeing parallels of myself and other people I know in these members,” said Kroening. “Watching the growth of everyone and seeing them grow more into themselves and become the people that you can tell that they're happy about being is unbelievable to watch. To be able to be there and help guide them through that is just such a precious experience.”
The experiences that came with being drum major solidified the fact that Kroening loves both being a leader and being around music. Next fall, he will be attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. as a commercial music major on the guitar.
“My future plans in life are to go into playing guitar professionally, be that in the studio, be that live, be that in bars downtown or in studios across the pond or in stages in Mumbai. The goal is if someone will let me play for them, I will play for them," Kroening said.
Kroening began playing music when he was eight years old, and the passion and dedication that that has brought onto him has influenced him to make music a lifelong career. Being drum major for the LaPorte High School marching band was what Kroening explained as an “awesome” experience and a huge steppingstone into his future in the world of music.
“Honestly, my favorite thing about music is how it's become my favorite thing. I don't have to put effort into liking music, I just do. No matter what time it is, no matter who I'm friends with, no matter where I am, no matter what year it is, no matter what's happening in the world, music has always been there," Kroening said. "It has always been something I can lean on, and be able to find myself in. My favorite thing about music is finding another part of myself that I didn't know I was missing.”