Montville — Opening with a plaintive trumpet solo flowing into reverent melodies from the chorus and band, “I Fly to You” then bursts into a percussive torrent of snare drum, tympani and bass drum.

It’s no happenstance that the piece, commissioned by the Saint Bernard School music department for the students’ performance for Pope Francis at the Vatican last winter, features a percussion interlude. Caitlin Meyer, the school’s music director, asked composer Gary Glackstatter to include it to showcase the talents of David Galvez, a senior from New London who graduated with his classmates on Friday.

“He’s always been very, very talented,” Meyer said, during a break from dress rehearsal for the school concert earlier this month. “It comes naturally to him. But over his time here, he’s really grown a lot as a performer, learning different instruments and learning to read music. It speaks to his commitment to his craft.”

As he snapped his snare drum during the rehearsal, Galvez, 17, the older of Erica Agreda and Roberto Galvez’s two children, was all about focus and precision, pursing his bottom lip as he kept his eyes trained on his music and the conductor while letting his wrists fly with the wings of his drumsticks. Off stage and away from his instrument, Galvez is genuinely humble, eager to tell how grateful he is to the people who’ve supported him along the way.

“I really want to thank my parents and to Ms. Meyer,” he said, before rehearsing with the chorus, where he sings bass. “They really played a big part in my life. They believed in me.”

His mother said her son has always known he wanted to pursue music as a career, setting his sights at a young age on one day attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She knew getting accepted there would be tough, but he’s risen to the challenges at Saint Bernard, so she didn’t dissuade him. This spring he auditioned for the school and will be attending there in the fall, planning to major in music production and engineering while continuing to perform.

“I’m very proud for my son,” she said. “He’s doing everything good for us.”

She and her husband emigrated from Peru in 1998, she said, and make a modest living from their jobs, she as owner of a housecleaning business and her husband as a cook at Mr. G’s restaurant in New London. Without scholarship aid from Saint Bernard, she said, they wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition for their son. While she is grateful for the lives they’ve established here, Agreda said she never wanted David or his 10-year-old sister, Fabiola, to forget their family’s roots. David recalled how his mother would give him Spanish lessons after he came home from elementary school in New London, and formed Yawar Llajta, a Peruvian folk dance group he performed with and now helps teach.

“Peru is an amazing country,” said David, who traveled there with his uncle last year on an extended visit with his grandparents. “I definitely want to visit more.”

This summer, he’ll be busy performing with his father’s band, Grupo Tentacion, playing drums and timbales for gigs at local restaurants, and private parties and venues around the state. The seven-member ensemble, which includes his uncle Edgar Agreda and three singers, has a loyal following for its lively dance music, with more than 400 fans signed up for its Facebook page. David joined the band at age 8, starting on bongos while his father played keyboards, learning by ear what would become his favorite style.

“Salsa is definitely my favorite,” he said. “It has a feeling I can’t find in any other music.”

At Saint Bernard, David said he’s aware most of his classmates come from wealthier families, but he’s nonetheless felt welcome. Joining the soccer team in his freshman year, he said, helped. This year he played striker with the team, which made it to the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship.

“The soccer team is like another family,” he said. “Being part of that team was the best thing that happened to me.”

He’s also become a leader among his classmates, serving as vice president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and organizing a coffeehouse in New London in April where he and other Saint Bernard musicians and poets performed. He even arranged a jazz piece for the occasion.

“It was a packed house,” Meyers recalled. “David performed this massive drum solo, which was really impressive. He just has that drive that comes from inside.”

 j.benson@theday.com