Drumroll, please
From left, Ruston High School percussionists Riley Green, Rylie Nutt, Trent Dufour, Jordan Jones, and Granthom Cline are shown in front of the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. The group took first place in an ensemble competition at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention last weekend.
The ensemble plays its set in front of the judges.
The big stage was not too big for five Ruston High School percussionists.
Last weekend Riley Green, Rylie Nutt, Trent Dufour, Jordan Jones and Granthom Cline traveled to the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, where they took home first place in the concert chamber percussion ensemble competition.
“They killed it,” Band Director Walter Moss said. “They performed beyond expectations. The judges’ comments were amazing. Their written comments said things like ‘just wow.’ And these judges are world renowned professionals.”
The Percussive Arts Society is the largest percussion organization in the world, and its international convention is one of the largest gatherings for percussion education, competition, networking and professional development.
The Bearcats took on some of the finest competition in the country as each team performed 15-minute sets without a conductor. Ruston emerged victorious as first-time competitors at the convention.
“Usually only the best of the best even mess with this,” Moss said. “It’s very high caliber.”
The group had been preparing for the competition for months, starting with production of the music in June, followed by weekly rehearsals starting in July and more intense rehearsing in October.
“All credit to the kids,” Moss said. “The atmosphere that has been created by present and former students in our music department at Ruston High School contributed toward this success. The full music department shares in this success because they feed off each other.
“I wanted to thank the support of our community, the administration of Ruston High School and the Lincoln Parish School Board, as well as the students’ parents.”
In addition to the competition, the young percussionists were able to absorb all the convention had to offer: huge equipment exhibits, guest lectures, performances and masterclasses from some of the most notable names in the industry.
Moss said such an experience is crucial to the musical and educational development of music students, from networking with professionals to having the opportunity to play on instruments and use equipment that they otherwise may never have heard in person.
“That’s the reason we do all of this — to help foster the love of music, the love of that craft and art form, and to equip them to forward that on to other people,” he said.
While the formal preparation began this summer, he said the students have truly been preparing for that moment and many more since they first picked up drumsticks.
“To watch this develop from basically a pipe dream to the competition itself is where I get the most joy,” Moss said. “Knowing where they started and seeing where they ended up — that’s all the payment I need.”
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