Congratulations to the Goshen HS Crimson Percussion Ensemble for earning 1^st place at the Decatur Central Winter Percussion Contest this past Saturday. The ensemble broke the 90 point barrier in the season opener (we won state last year with a 91.2) to start the season in grand fashion. The group will travel to Norwell HS next Saturday to continue their run to the Indiana Percussion Association State Finals in March.

Like a mad scientist in his lab, Goshen (IN) (Silver Medal- 95.3) threw together a little of this and some of that, mixed in their own special electricity, and voila!, created “It’s Alive!!!”. This group has become known for a unique style of programming and this year is no exception. With a bit of whimsy in costuming (who else would combine a skeleton torso with bowties?), and a talented cast of musicians who were not shy about showing off their skills, the group cranked up the energy in the arena with a white-hot rendition of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein”.

Here is a link to the video of the Winter Percussion performance @ Whiteman Gym: http://www.dropshots.com/goshenband#date/2007-01-01/08:00:02 "It's Alive"

The winter percussion took second place in World Class. They had a great show, all the equipment worked and it was a real crowd pleaser. Their score was a 91.45. Greenwood took first with 92.40. After a short break, they will start practicing for the WGI national finals in Dayton, OH on April 17-18.

Don’t forget the percussion showcase tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. It has been moved to the main gym. Northridge will be one of our guest performers and they placed 4^th in Class A concert on Saturday. Congrats to them. Northwood will also be at the showcase with a group that went to ISSMA contest.

***As a side note, Tom’s twin brother Tim, from Decatur Central, placed 1^st in the Scholastic Open movement division. Congrats to them also.

***Winter Percussion performs at Ben Davis High School at 8:07 on Saturday evening in State Finals World Class competition.

Wanted to let all of you know that we are hosting a percussion concert on Tuesday March 18 @ 7:00 in Whiteman gym. Our very own Crimson percussion Ensemble will be performing along with Northwood, Northridge, Fairfield and Warsaw. Our goal was to allow each of the kids to get to see the other schools shows since we do not get to do that at competitions. However we are opening this up to the public also. Would love to see a full set of bleachers. There is no admission and it should all be over with by 8:30 pm. This is an informal format and not a competition. Just a fun night of percussion.

The percussion scored an 83.50 and place 3^rd in World class. We were happy with that considering the mallet kat chose not to work. There were some definite bare spots in the show without that. Assuming all works as it should, we hope to really WOW the judges and crowd with the complete finished show next week at Ben Davis.

The winter percussion will be performing at Warsaw HS on Saturday evening also. They are set to perform at 8:43 pm. Cost is $5 per person. Last week the group took 1st place at the WGI regional's in Troy, Michigan. This qualifies them to compete at the WGI nationals finals in Dayton, Ohio on April 18-20.

The Goshen High School Percussion Ensemble received a Bronze medal at this weekends WGI National Percussion Championships in Dayton, Ohio. The ensemble gave two inspiring performances and drew a great crowd response with their performance.

The ensemble competes in the “World Class” division (this is a class for ensembles that perform the most difficult literature available) of concert percussion ensembles. Groups from California, Colorado, and South Carolina were among the many states at this event in our class. The group qualified for finals with an impressive first round opening score of 94.9 and finished third with a 95.8 (a 99 or 100 has never been given). Percussion Director Chris Smith was cited for his imaginative arranging techniques and the ensemble was clearly the crowd favorite.

Senior Reuben Gingrich was awarded a $1000.00 scholarship at the finals ceremony. This award is given to students who plan to pursue a career in music, have high performance skills, and complete a rigorous set of questions from the judges.