EAST GREENWICH — It was probably one of the biggest secrets band director Brendan Carniaux ever had to keep.

He said he was speechless when he learned last week that his East Greenwich High School marching band was selected to perform during the one-mile parade following the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.

“I got the word on Friday about the parade, but I didn’t tell anybody until today because I knew it was going to be announced,” he said yesterday. “I’ve had the last two days to swallow it all.”

And to regain his composure.

Yesterday morning, he walked into band rehearsal and told the 84 students that they would be heading to Washington in a few weeks for the inauguration.

“Their eyes popped out of their heads,” he said. “It was a nice mix of excitement and fear.”

Rightly so.

Obama’s inauguration — on Jan. 20, the day after the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday — is being billed as one of the biggest and most anticipated inaugurations ever. Some expect that the event will draw more than a million spectators to the nation’s capital.

It isn’t the first time East Greenwich has been offered a role on Inauguration Day. In 1984, the Avenger band was selected to perform in the festivities for President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration. That group, however, was unable to march because the temperature dropped below 10 degrees. In the past, bands from Cranston, Warwick, Providence, Westerly, and Portsmouth (as well as a choir from Providence) have preformed at inaugural parades.

“I am honored to invite these talented groups and individuals to participate in the Inaugural Parade,” President-elect Obama said in a statement. “These organizations embody the best of our nation’s history, diversity and commitment to service.”

When choosing a performer for the parade, Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said the committee considers the group’s talent, diversity, merit and geographic location. In total, the committee expects to select between 70 and 90 bands, service organizations, floats, drill teams and law enforcement groups to march in the parade and “represent small towns and big cities across the nation.”

The committee received 1,382 applications from organizations wishing to march in the parade. The group expects to release a full list of the groups selected later in the week, Stevens said.

Carniaux submitted an online application by the Nov. 14 deadline to the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, including an audio recording of the band, a picture and a small summary.

“I applied not expecting to get it,” Carniaux said. “I just thought it would be an honor to go. If we got picked, great, but if we didn’t, I figured there would be other chances to try. And we got picked.”

The band will march a little over one mile from 501 Pennsylvania Ave. to the gates of the White House, where it will perform for Obama. It will perform traditional march songs and popular music, Carniaux said.

“We will definitely prepare some new music,” he said. “I just haven’t thought about exactly what yet.”

The selected groups are responsible for their own lodging and transportation. East Greenwich High began making calls yesterday to travel agents and others to arrange the logistics for the trip, said principal Jeannine L. Nota-Masse.

It won’t be cheap. The estimated cost for lodging, transportation and meals will be about $400 per student, she said. The district must also find a way to pay for other expenses, such as dry-cleaning all the uniforms. In addition to fundraising, the school will set up a way for alumni and community members to make donations to the band trip at the school, she said.

“We’re going to be looking for business and families and anyone willing to help with donations,” she said. “There is a cost, but it is more than worth it for the kids to be a part of this. We’re doing what we can and we have the administration and the town administration as cheerleaders, too.”

Town Manager William Sequino Jr., who has known Carniaux for years and said he always believed the band would be selected, said he’d already called three individuals to see if they could contribute to help offset the band’s expenses

“A little along the way will make it easier,” he said. “The town will contribute something. I’d be surprised if they didn’t, no matter how tight budgets are getting.”

—With reports from the Associated Press

tbuford@projo.com