RS transparentthe official blog of the Percussive Arts Society

  • Pescara (IT): The music conservatory "L. D'Annunzio" hosted the 20th edition of event organized by Italy PAS

    by Hillary Henry | Nov 28, 2023

    Italy Competition

    The 20th edition of the “Italy Percussion Competition” and Festival “Days of Percussion” took place August 29 – September 3. The event was organized by Antonio Santangelo (President of Italy PAS) and Claudio Santangelo (Artistic Director) — in collaboration with the Music Conservatory "L.D'Annunzio" of Pescara (Italy). The event is considered one of the most important worldwide. Everyone recognizes the great work and great organization of Italy PAS which, in this edition, celebrated its twenty years of activity.  We lived intense days of music and rhythm with internationally percussionists, writes President Antonio Santangelo, who gave us authentic emotions. Thinking that students from all over the world have traveled for hours to be able to perform in competitions in front of highly qualified juries and, in turn, have the opportunity to attend concerts and masterclasses fills us with satisfaction and repays us for all the organizational effort of these months.

    The "Career Awards 2023" was awarded to Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic and Nick Woud, two great musicians who contribute with passion, love and teaching to the growth of entire generations of percussionists.

    Italy Career Awards

    Antonio Santangelo with Nick Woud (left) and with Nebojsa J. Zivkovic (right)

    Winners of the ITALY PERCUSSION COMPETITION (for soloists and composers)

    Jury and winners: MARIMBA
    Nebojsa J. Živković,Pei-Ching WU, Eric Sammut, Tatiana Koleva, Claudio Santangelo

    Cat. A 1st Prize Edgars Zaurs (LV)  - 2nd Prize Alexandru Beleca (RO)
    Cat. B 1st Prize Abs. Sung-En Chi (TW) - 2nd Prize Yi-Ling Cai (TW)
    Cat. C 1st Prize Ching-Yun Lin (TW) - 2nd Prize Hsuan Wu (TW)

    Jury and winners: TIMPANI
    Nick Woud, Shiniti Ueno, Claudio Romano

    Cat. A : 1st Prize Litao Dong (CN) - 2nd Prize Mátyás Rigó (HU)
    Cat. B: 1st Prize Mátyás Holló (HU) - 2nd Prize Lorenzo Ramundi (IT)
    Cat. C: No winners

    Jury and winners: COMPOSIZIONE
    John Psathas, Julie Spencer, Todd Ukena, Richard LeVan, Luigi Morleo

    Cat. A: Daniel Townsend (UK) 2nd Prize; Jon Esnaola Agirre (ES); Tosato Carlo (IT) 3rd Prize; Pablo Blanco Cordero (ES);) Special Mention
    Cat. B: Johannes Claassen (DE) 3rd Prize
    Cat. C: Carlo Passeggi (AR) 2nd Prize
    Cat. D: Tosato Carlo (IT); João Pedro Oliveira (PT); Yu-Chen Ho (TW) 3rd Prize
    Cat. E:No winners

    Jury and winners  of the PERCUSSION ARTS WEB CONTEST (Duo and Percussion ensemble).
    Gordon Stout, W. Lee Vinson (USA); Naoko Takada, Nino Masayuki (Giappone); She-e WU, Pei-Ching Wu (Taiwan); Jeanni Zhang, Jingjing Li (Cina); Frederic Macarez (Francia); Dennis Kuhn, Nils Rohwer, Jessica e Vanessa Porter (Germania); Walter Mertens (Belgio; Luigi Morleo, Claudio Santangelo, Tarcisio Molinaro, Ivan Mancinelli e Maria Vittorio (Italia)

    Cat. A/DUO (Percussion solo) 2nd Prize - DUO Michel Chenuil and Francesco Parodi (IT); 3rd Prize - DUO KAMEHA (JP)
    Cat. B/DUO (Percussioni e Piano); 2nd Prize - DUO Masaharu Nagano (JP)
    Cat. C/DUO (Percussion with other instruments); 3rd Prize DUO Evelin Drahos e Màrton Szives (HU) - DUO Fabio Conoscitore and Michele F. Pio Verde (IT)
    Cat. D/ENSEMBLE (from 3 to 6 percussionists);  2nd Prize - Trio GANG-TA (KR, PL e DE) - Quartet PSYCHO P. GROUP (TW); 3rd Prize - Trio RAINTREE (BR, GR e PT) - Quartet QUANTUM (HU)- Trio BALA (CH, PT e HU)
    Cat. E/ENSEMBLE (for the schools); 2nd Prize - Serdica Percussion Ensemble - “Lubomir Pipkov” by Sofia (Bulgaria)      

  • Drum Corps International 2023 World Championships Blue Devils earn first “three-peat” and record 21st championship

    by Hillary Henry | Nov 09, 2023

    story and photo by Lauren Vogel Weiss

    Drum Corps International began its second half century during the summer of 2023. Dozens of corps toured the country, participating in over 80 shows across 32 states, culminating in the World Class Championships held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis August 10-12. While one corps set a new record for winning titles, another former champion (California’s Santa Clara Vanguard) took the summer off to recover from a financial shortfall. And don’t forget the ever-increasing use of narration, vocals, and props.

    The Blue Devils (Concord, California) remained undefeated for a second straight season and captured their 21st overall (and third consecutive) championship gold medal, along with three caption awards: the Donald Angelica Best General Effect Award (2nd year in a row), the John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award (2nd year in a row), and the George Zingali Best Color Guard Award. Their “three-peat” (2019, 2022-2023) makes them only the third corps to achieve that feat, alongside The Cadets (1983-1985) and The Cavaliers (2000-2002). The Blue Devils’ program, “The Cut Outs,” inspired by the art techniques of Henri Matisse, featured two original compositions by BD Music Director Dave Glyde (“The Rise” and “Resistance”), along with music by Cody Fry (“Caves”), TesseracT (“Of Energy”), Bob Graettinger (“Incident in Jazz”), James Newton Howard (“Grand Canyon Fanfare”), and one of the greatest ballads of all time, Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”

    Moments after winning yet another world title, longtime Percussion Caption Head and Arranger Scott Johnson admitted, “It hasn’t sunk in yet. We were just trying to get through this last day. The kids’ performance at the rehearsal, as well as tonight, was just awesome. It’s a good day to be a Blue Devil!”

    When asked his favorite part of the show, Johnson smiled and laughed, “There were too many really cool moments, especially all the drum breaks and percussion features, but I really loved our ballad this year. The battery didn’t even play there – just the front ensemble. It was absolutely breathtaking. This was probably one of the best front ensembles that we’ve ever had, and that’s a major statement. Plus one of the best bass drum lines, too.

    “During the season,” Johnson continued, “you’re in the grind. You don’t really get a chance to look at the show. You just keep doing it; you keep improving it; you keep finding your mistakes; you keep trying to fix things; and you don’t really get to enjoy it until after it’s all over. But tonight’s performance was amazing!”

    A video of the Blue Devils championship encore exhibition may be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzIBVG2hytc

    Although the corps finished in eighth place, The Cavaliers (Rosemont, Illinois) captured their seventh “high drum” title – and first since 2011 – by winning the Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award, which averages the Music Percussion scores from the three nights of competition. Not only did they win drums in Prelims, Semifinals, and Finals by almost two-tenths each night, they remained undefeated in drums since their show in Abilene, Texas on July 18, including regional matchups in San Antonio, Atlanta, and Allentown. And, like the 1982 Bayonne Bridgemen, the 2023 Cavaliers were only the second eighth place corps to win high drums.

    “I’m speechless! I’m just so happy for them!” exclaimed Josh Brickey, Percussion Caption Head for The Cavaliers, who has been with the corps for four years.

    The Cavaliers were celebrating their 75th season and the 2023 repertoire included old and new favorites in their program, “…Where You’ll Find Me.” In addition to John Rutter’s “Gloria” and original music by the corps’ arrangers, they played nostalgic pieces such as Harold Arlen’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” (from West Side Story), and Tony De Vita’s “Softly As I Leave You.”

    When asked their favorite part of the show, Brickey and Michael McIntosh, Percussion Designer and Caption Supervisor who has been with The Cavaliers for two decades, both agreed it was the second movement. “My favorite part was juxtaposing the amazing vocals of Judy Garland [singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’] with the pit and quads – a unique texture that eventually became an ear worm for all of us,” McIntosh explained. “It was everything that was special: juxtaposing sounds against each other to create a new sound, the style of the tenor writing, and the use of space, all in a lyrical and elegant environment… and it turned out super cool!”

    Brickey added, “We used multiple implements in the quad line. The way we used a guiro stick in the snare drums. Textures. Timbres. It was just a symphony of percussive sounds.”

    McIntosh also credited the rest of The Cavaliers talented percussion staff: front ensemble arranger Clif Walker, battery coordinator Russell Wharton, ensemble coordinator Lane Armey, lead choreographer Tim Jackson, visual specialist Andrew Polk, along with music consultants (and DCI Hall of Fame members) Tom Aungst and Bret Kuhn.

    Portions of the drum feature (from the DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio on July 22, 2023) may be viewed only at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyk9IiVA30&t=16s and a finals-week rehearsal of the second movement, from a GoPro “snare cam” point of view, may be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qskejNegtR0&t=11s

    For those attending PASIC 2023, The Cavaliers’ Percussion Section will present a clinic on Saturday morning, November 11 at 10:00 am.

    The 2023 drum corps season also saw a close and competitive race for the silver and bronze medals. For the third time in a row, the Bluecoats (Canton, Ohio) placed second. Their program, “The Garden of Love,” featured music by Chick Corea (“The Woods”) and Pat Metheny (“Finding and Believing”), along with several tunes by Eddie Magnason. The show opened with snare drummers playing on rotating circular podiums in the middle of the field. As in years past, the Bluecoats front ensemble also featured not one, but two drumset players.

    Placing third (by less than eight-hundredths of a point) was Carolina Crown (Ft. Mill, South Carolina), who also won their eighth Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award. Crown’s show, “The Round Table, Echoes of Camelot,” included a wide variety of music, from Henry Purcell’s “Dido’s Lament” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem,” to Bela Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 2,” Richard Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde,” and “All is full of Love” by Bjork. Their medieval look even carried over to the bass drum heads.

    Fourth place went to the Boston (Massachusetts) Crusaders. Their “White Whale” program, inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, featured period costumes in the front ensemble, along with aluphones, a bosun’s pipe, bodhrans, and even bones, to create authentic sounds in the music. Their nautically-themed repertoire included “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” by Ralph Vaughn Williams, traditional tunes “Swallowtail Jig” and “The Wellerman,” and Bernstein’s “On the Waterfront.” Their strong drum line, a contender for the Sanford award all summer, placed third overall in Indianapolis.

    The Cadets (Erie, Pennsylvania) moved up a position from the previous year with a fifth place finish. Their “Atlas Rising” program included music by Hans Zimmer (“What Are You GoIng To Do When You Are Not Saving the World?” and “Corynorhinus”) and Paul Lovatt-Cooper (”Immortal”). A drumset was also prominently featured at the beginning of the show.

    Perhaps the biggest placement jump since last year was from the Mandarins (Sacramento, California), who moved up from tenth to sixth place in 2023, their highest ranking in the corps’ 60 year history. Their “Sinnerman” program was very popular, especially the spinning cages at the end of the show. Music showcased selections from Wynton Marsalis (“Swing Symphony”), Nat King Cole (“Smile”), Labrinth and Zendaya (“Repent”), Hozier (“Take Me to Church”), and Nina Simone (“Sinnerman”).

    Another crowd favorite was Phantom Regiment (Rockford, Illinois), who placed seventh and also won the FloMarching Fan Favorite poll for the third year in a row. Their “ExoGenesis” program included music of the English rock band Muse, Andy Akiho’s “to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem,” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2,” and “For I Have Fought the Good Fight” by Stephen Melillo. A riser directly behind the front ensemble brought the entire percussion section together for the exciting finale.

    The Colts (Dubuque, Iowa) continued their climb to ninth place, up two spots from last year. Their program, “Where the Heart Is,” featured music from Motley Crue, Pat Metheny, Cinematic Orchestra, and Randy Newman. They were the only Top 12 corps to utilize marching cymbals as part of their drum line.

    Earning their first Top 10 finish since 1985, the Troopers (Casper, Wyoming) presented a Western-themed program, “To Lasso the Sun.“ Featuring music of Italian movie composer Ennio Morricone, the most prominent visual display was a large rotating sun sculpture. Their strong drum line finished in eighth place thanks in part to their effective front ensemble. Not to mention the only harmonica solo of the evening!

    The Blue Stars (LaCrosse, Wisconsin) finished in eleventh place. Their program, “In ABSINTHEia,” included “Avrio” by Everfish, “Green” by Michael Torke, “Let Me Drown” by Orville Peck, “Such Letting Go Is Love” by Symbion Project, and the namesake “In ABSINTHEia” by Music Coordinator and Brass Composer Jim Wunderlich. During the second half of their show, the snare line was featured playing hi-hats and stacks cymbals on a custom-built rack in the center of the field.

    Rounding out the Top 12 was the Blue Knights (Denver, Colorado). Performing “Unharnessed,” their repertoire featured Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem,” “Break On Through” by The Doors, Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away,” and “Freedom” by Pharrell Williams. In addition to using “marching men” sound effects in the front ensemble, there were also several obelisk-shaped props on the field that featured “found” percussion instruments, such as frying pans, bowls, and rebound planks.

      Corps 

    Score
    (out of 100 points) 
    Drum Score*
    (out of 20 points) 
    1. Blue Devils 98.975 19.400 (2nd)
    2. Bluecoats 97.738 19.233 (4th-tie)
    3.  Carolina Crown        97.663 19.233 (4th-tie)
    4. Boston Crusaders    96.925 19.383 (3rd)
    5. The Cadets   94.313 19.183 (6th)
    6. Mandarins     93.775 18.833 (7th)
    7. Phantom Regiment   92.988 18.516 (9th)
    8. The Cavaliers           92.125  19.666 (1st)
    9. Colts   90.263 18.183 (10th)
    10.  Troopers        89.475 18.566 (8th)
    11. Blue Stars                  88.625 18.000 (11th)
    12.  Blue Knights 86.375 17.633 (12th)

    Drum judges: Jeff Brooks (music percussion/prelims), Chris Rapacki (music percussion/semifinals), and Julie Davila (music percussion/finals)     

    The drum scores and rankings listed above are an average of the Music Percussion scores from all three nights of World Championship competition and is based on a 20 point total. That number is then divided by two and only a maximum of 10 points is added into the total possible overall score of 100 points.

    For the second year in a row, Crossmen (San Antonio, Texas) placed 13th. The rest of the Top 25 corps were Pacific Crest (City of Industry, California); Georgia’s Spirit of Atlanta; Madison Scouts (Madison, Wisconsin); Music City (Nashville, Tennessee); The Academy (Tempe, Arizona); Open Class Champion Spartans (Nashua, New Hampshire); Gold (San Diego, California); Genesis (Austin, Texas); Southwind (Mobile, Alabama); Jersey Surf (Camden County, New Jersey); Columbians (Tri-Cities, Washington); and Seattle Cascades (Seattle, Washington).

    OTHER DCI CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK EVENTS
    With last year’s gold medalist (California’s Vanguard Cadets) inactive for 2023, the Open Class title was up for grabs during the competition at Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana on August 8. New Hampshire’s Spartans won their second gold medal with a score of 82.263. They also won caption awards for general effect, visual performance, and color guard, as well as the Best Percussion Performance award. For the second year in a row, California’s Gold earned the silver medal (80.675), plus the high brass award. Alabama’s Southwind (79.125) captured the bronze medal.

    Friday night’s Semifinals competition included three special performances. The United States Army’s Old Guard – comprised of fifes, bugles, and rope drums – performed during the dinner break intermission. Following the last corps in competition, Open Class Champion Spartans presented an encore of their winning program “Surreal.” But the highlight of the night may have been the Troopers Legacy Corps, comprised of decades of alumni who marched in the Wyoming-based corps. They played several corps classics, including themes from popular Western movies such as How the West Was Won; The Magnificent Seven; and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly; along with “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Their drum line included 11 snare drums and four rope snare drums, along with five each multi-tenors, bass drums, and marching cymbals – plus an extra large pair of crash cymbals (close to 30 inches in diameter!) featured in the front ensemble. A video of their performance may be viewed at www.troopersdrumcorps.org/legacycorps

    During Friday evening’s show, DCI’s Executive Director Dan Acheson was recognized for his 28 years of service as the organization’s longest-serving director. And on behalf of everyone who has watched drum corps on television, in movie theaters, or on home videos, director/editor/producer Tom Blair received a special thank you for his almost four-decades of work on these broadcasts.

    Also on Friday, DCI introduced two of their 2023 Hall of Fame members, Gino Cipriani (brass instructor and caption head for The Cadets, among other corps) and David Glyde (music director, composer, and arranger for the Blue Devils). Tom Float (who passed away on October 3, 2022) was also recognized during a short “In Memoriam” segment. The evening closed with the traditional age-out ceremony, this year with the 22-year-olds marching onto the field, grouped by corps.

    As the final night of DCI’s 51st season began on Saturday, two very different ensembles performed in exhibition. First up was the INpact band, comprised of more the 500 middle school band students representing more than 50 schools across Indiana. The United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, “The Commandant’s Own,” also performed their 2023 field show, plus our national anthem to open the competition.

    Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, there was no Performers Showcase, so there were no individual nor ensemble winners. Let’s hope this competition, showcasing the corps members’ special talents, returns in 2024.

    The future of the drum and bugle corps activity looks bright as the Santa Clara Vanguard is making plans to return to the competition field in 2024. [Unfortunately, in mid-October, both The Cadets and Southwind announced that they were suspending their 2024 competitive season due to financial challenges.] If you marched in the past and believe in the marching arts, please help your favorite corps – they need the financial support of their alumni and fans.

    See y’all in Indianapolis August 8-10, 2024….

    Blue Devils 1 2023 Blue Devils 2 2023
    Blue Devils captured their 21st world championship, as well as their first three-peat.

    Matisse’s “cut out” art technique was featured in the Blue Devils uniforms and drums.

    Bluecoats 2023 Carolina Crown2023
    Bluecoats’ garden theme was evident in their uniforms and on the field. Carolina Crown’s medieval look emphasized their Camelot theme.
    Boston Crusaders 2023 Cadets 2023

    Boston Crusaders’ front ensemble featured bones and bodhrans.

    The Cadets had a strong fifth place finish in 2023.

    Mandarins2023 Phantom 2023
    Mandarins had their best finish in the corps’ 60 year history. Phantom Regiment elevated the snare drummers on a riser at the end of the show.
    Cavaliers 2023 Cavaliers 2 2023

    The Cavaliers won their seventh high drum title and first since 2011.

    The Cavaliers drum line had been undefeated since July 18, 2023.
    Colts 2023 Troopers 2023
    The Colts were the only Top 12 corps to feature a marching cymbal line.

    The Troopers western-themed show was carried out through both the music and uniforms.

    Blue Stars 2023 Blue Knights 2023
    The Blue Stars’ snare line was featured playing hi-hats and stacks cymbals on a custom-built rack in the center of the field.

    A member of the Blue Knights front ensemble also played on frying pans.

    PAS Staff 2023 Spartans 2023
    (L-R) PAS staff members Rob Funkhouser and Nicole Herlevic staffed the exhibit booth as part of the DCI Festival Marketplace.

    Open Class champion Spartans had fun with long-handled mallets during their percussion feature.

    Old Guard 2023
    USMC 2023

    The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performed in exhibition on Friday night.

    The United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, “The Commandant’s Own,” performed on Saturday night.

    Troopers Legacy 2023
    Troopers Legacy 2 2023

    The Troopers Legacy Corps featured four rope snare drums during their exhibition after Semifinals.

    The Troopers Legacy Corps also featured one of the largest pairs of crash cymbals in drum corps history!

  • 2023 Texas Chapter Day of Percussion

    by Hillary Henry | Aug 21, 2023

    story and photo by Lauren Vogel Weiss

    The University of North Texas in Denton hosted the PAS Texas Chapter Day of Percussion on April 21 & 22, 2023. From clinics to concerts, there was a wide variety of events, including individual competitions and a percussion ensemble festival. Mark Ford, Coordinator of Percussion at UNT, helped to organize the event, along with Michael Huestis, Texas PAS Chapter President and percussion specialist at Prosper High School.

    The first event on the Friday schedule was the Collegiate Individual Competition, adjudicated by Huestis and Dr. Thad Anderson, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Central Florida and PAS President-Elect. Fifteen students from three colleges around the state (Collin College, Southern Methodist University, and UNT) played solos on marimba, snare drum, and marching tenors. First place was awarded to Emma Kieselhorst (marimba); second place went to Raina Liao (marimba); and third place went to Jacob Fullinwider (snare drum), all three students at UNT.

    At noon, a special concert was held at the Syndicate in the University Union: UNT alum Gregg Bissonette performed as a guest drumset soloist with the One O’Clock Lab Band, under the direction of Alan Baylock. Bissonette was featured on three tunes – “Coconut Champagne” by Denis DeBlasio, “Fireshaker” by Maynard Ferguson (arr. by Chris Braymen), and “Time Check” by Don Menza. Student drummer Colman Burks was featured on Neal Hefti’s “Whirly Bird.”

    The High School Individual Competition, adjudicated by Dr. Dave Hall, Associate Professor of Percussion at UNT, and Dr. Michael Crawford, Lecturer in Music Education at UNT, was held on Friday afternoon. Eighteen students from seven high schools played solos on marching snare drum, marching tenors, and marimba. Sophie Depew from Coppell High School placed first for her marimba solo, and Savanna Westwick from Prosper High School won two awards: second place for her marimba solo and third place for her marching snare solo. Winners for both solo competitions received a Tama concert snare drum and stand. Other prizes were donated by Direct Sound Headphones, Innovative Percussion, and Sabian cymbals.

    Also on Friday afternoon was a drumset clinic presented by Rich Redmond, another UNT alum, now a Nashville-based drummer who has performed with Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood. Redmond discussed the “money beats” as well as the importance of different styles and reading.

    The Friday evening concert, held at Winspear Hall in the Performing Arts Center, included three compositions featuring four percussion soloists, accompanied by the UNT Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Andrew Trachsel. The concert opened with Ivan Trevino’s “Run to the Light,” featuring Dave Hall and Paul Rennick, both UNT faculty members, on marimbas and multi-drum setups. Next on the program was the American premiere of composer/soloist Mark Ford’s “Marimba Concerto for Wind Ensemble.” After the awards presentation for the Individuals Competitions, the concert concluded with guest artist Noriko Tsukagoshi in “Lauda Concertata for Marimba” by Akira Ifukube (transcribed for wind ensemble by Kaoru Wada).

    Saturday morning began with the High School Percussion Ensemble Festival. Five ensembles from four high schools were critiqued by Anderson, Hall, and Kennan Wylie. The winning ensemble was one of the two from Prosper High School, under the direction of Huestis.

    George Nickson, Principal Percussionist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, was the first clinician of the morning. His clinic, titled “Cross-training as a soloist and orchestral percussionist” demonstrated how to practice excerpts that also improved technique, such as octaves in Schuman’s Third Symphony and fourths in Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” Nickson also performed a Bach Cello Suite on marimba.

    Acclaimed Japanese marimbist Noriko Tsukagoshi, who earned a Graduate Artist Certificate from UNT, gave a marimba clinic later that morning. in addition to the musical tips she offered, she also shared how her ballet training helped with her marimba movement.

    After lunch, master percussionist Paoli Mejías gave a clinic on both salsa and Latin jazz. His session was followed by a drumset clinic by Gregg Bissonette, a Los Angeles-based session drummer, currently on tour with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band. The last clinic of the afternoon was devoted to marching percussion and featured Paul Rennick and Sandi Rennick, both members of the Santa Clara Vanguard musical staff.

    The final concert, held Saturday evening in Winspear Hall, opened with the UNT Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Dave Hall. They performed Jlin’s “Derivative” and “Obscure,” “Etched in Sand” by Nina Young, Andy Akiho’s “Pillar VII,” and “Liminality” by Dave Hall.

    The second half of the concert featured the UNT Latin Jazz Band, under the direction of José M. Aponte, along with Mejías and Bissonette as guest artists. They performed Michael League’s arrangement of “Caravan” by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, Simeon Davis’s arrangement of “Star Eyes” by Gene de Paul and Don Raye, Scott Lavender’s “They Call Me Mister Mambo,” Agustín Alonso’s “Salmontology,” Josh Busby’s arrangement of “Suavena” by Francisco “Pirulo” Rosado, and Tyler J. Mire’s “Late Night Mambo,” adapted by Toshi Clinch.

    Special thanks go to the artists’s sponsors: Direct Sound Headphones, Dixon Drums, DW Drums and Pedals, Dynasty, Evans Drumheads, Innovative Percussion, LP Music, Marimba One, Majestic, Meinl Percussion, Musicon Publications, Remo, Sabian, Tama/Bergerault, Vic Firth, Yamaha, and the UNT College of Music and Percussion.

    TXDOP2023Pic1 TXDOP2023Pic2
    Paoli Mejías during his Latin percussion clinic. (L-R) Mark Ford, George Nickson, and Noriko Tsukagoshi and the attendees of the Saturday morning clinics.
    TX2023DOPPic3 TX2023DOPPic4
    George Nickson playing snare drum during his orchestral percussion clinic Mark Ford presented Coppell High School student Sophie Depew with a Tama concert snare drum for winning the high school individuals competition with her marimba solo. (Photo by Ewelina Ford)
    TX2023DOPPic5 TX2023DOPPic8
    Texas PAS Chapter President Michael Huestis (left) and PAS President-Elect Thad Anderson (right) with some of the Individuals winners: (L-R) Jacob Fullinwider, Raina Liao, Emma Kieselhorst, and Savanna Westwick. Gregg Bissonette (second from right), with current and former UNT percussion faculty members: (L-R) Quincy Davis, Ron Fink, Ed Soph, and Mark Ford. 
    TX2023DOPPic7 TX2023DOPPic6
    Gregg Bissonette during his drumset clinic Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Ewelina Ford) Paul Rennick used a video demonstration during the marching percussion clinic. (Photo by Michael Huestis)
    TX2023DOPPic9 TX2023DOPPic10
    Dave Hall (left) and Paul Rennick performing Ivan Trevino’s “Run to the Light.” Rich Redmond during his drumset clinic.
    TX2023DOPPic11 TX2023DOPPic12
    Noriko Tsukagoshi performing “Lauda Concertata for Marimba” by Akira Ifukube (transcribed for wind ensemble by Kaoru Wada). Soloists from the Friday night concert: (L-R) Paul Rennick, Noriko Tsukagoshi, Mark Ford, and Dave Hall.
    TX2023DOPPic13 TX2023DOPPic14
    Composer/soloist Mark Ford his “Marimba Concerto for Wind Ensemble.” Gregg Bissonette performing with the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band.

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