Bob Jones Drumline earns gold in percussion championships

Bob Jones High School Drumline presented “The Shadows” at Winter Guard International in Dayton, Ohio on April 10-12. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Bob Jones High School Drumline won the gold at percussion championships in 2014 Southeastern Color Guard Circuit (SCGC) competition.

Bob Jones earned first place with “The Shadows.” The contest was held at Lincoln County High School in Fayetteville, Tenn. on March 29. Leigh Thomas is co-director and assistant band director.

“‘The Shadows’ depicts different forms a shadow can take,” Thomas said. “Maybe it’s something lurking in the unknown or in someone else’s shadow … something eerie and mysterious in the air.”

Snare drummers are Aaron Barr, Jake Sacco and Zach Zambrycki. James Eaton and Katelyn McWhirter play tenor drums. Bass drummers are Grace Barr, Sam Benefield, Matt Allen, Marty Fore and Josh Fox

Cymbal players are Reighan Bowie, Mathew Ganatra, Aidan Pittman, Kyle West and Telly Polychroniades.

The front ensemble includes Elise Stone, Morgan Kurowsky, Natalie Petrucka, Hyun Woo Kim, June Howard, Mathew Meyer, Christian Bartell, Jessica Beavers, Amy Few, Parker Harless, Ellie Smith, Erik Mortimer, Michael Franklin, Scott Hogan and Denver Davis.

“The Shadows” dancers are senior Sarah Schumacher; juniors Michelle Bono, Camille Hebert and Sureena Monteiro-Pai; and freshmen Carsen Grant and Emily Mack.

Jeb Bushey and Alex Ward are technical assistants.

“The front ensemble wore black, ominous hooded costumes with a simple black mesh” over their faces,” Thomas said. Students could see, but the audience couldn’t see their faces. The battery wore street clothes in gray gradients.

The first vocal sets the show’s mood: “Have you felt like you’re being following … like someone is watching your every move?”

For “shadow” effect, one marimba played a pattern that the line then echoed. Excerpts of “Dies Irae” and “Night on Bald Mountain” conveyed the dark theme, Thomas said.

Bob Jones alumnus and University of North Alabama graduate Zack Melton composed and arranged the show. Another Bob Jones graduate and drumline co-director Jonathan Beavers wrote the drill.

Bryan Barley, Kevin Enfinger, LaMeuriea Coleman, Melton, Beaver and Thomas collaborated to develop the show. “We each had a focus — music, drill, general effect, electronics, playing technique,” Thomas said. The result “made the show complete.”

Bob Jones Drumline traveled to Winter Guard International Percussion Championships in Dayton, Ohio on April 9.