A reader wrote pointed us to a bit of local news we missed:
I did not see this mentioned on your web pages, and therefore thought I would inquire as to your thoughts on something.
The Claremont High School percussion ensemble, against many odds thrown in their path, made it to Dayton, Ohio, in April to the WGI World Championships, and brought home the gold medal in "concert percussion" and the bronze medal in "marching percussion."
Congrats to the CHS percussion ensemble for their well-deserved honors!
The reader also wrote of some concern that the Claremont Courier had failed to cover the ensemble news, but the Courier ran an article by Landus Rigsby on the CHS Percussion Band in last Saturday's edition:
When the instruments in an orchestra blend together as they were meant to be, they produce a collective sound that no individual instruments could ever produce. The same principle applies to a percussion band—when all instruments blend together, a rhythmic and melodic resonance is created that will wow a crowd of people to their feet.
This was the case for the Claremont High School Percussion Band, who captured the gold medal in the Scholastic World Concert Percussion category and the bronze medal in the Scholastic World Classic Marching Percussion category to make history at the 2008 Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championships in Dayton, Ohio back in April.
“I’m very proud of them, seeing how hard they worked,” said CHS Interim Percussion Band Director Ryan James. “And I’m very proud to see them achieve something that they haven’t before.”
The feat of capturing 2 medals at the event is something that has not been done by a school for 12 years. CHS’ gold medal winning performance earned high reviews from judges—who gave the school a score of 96.05—and also favorable written reviews from writers such as WGI website author Michael Reed. Even in the Marching Percussion category where Claremont finished in 3rd place, the group still earned a high mark of 94.7.
“Capturing their first WGI title with a pristine display of musicianship, Claremont (CA) brought the contemporary sounds of Japanese composers Akira Nishimura and Minoru Miki to town with ‘Kala,’” Mr. Reed wrote. “Opening with metallic instruments in their upper ranges, the fast, light playing was like the twinkling of bright stars. The group gave a superb exhibition of balance and blend, as the entire range of instruments from the highest crotale note, to the lowest marimba pitch, could be clearly heard throughout the stadium even during the softest dynamic levels.”
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