Winter Percussion Ensemble kicked off their season last night during their practice. Photo by: Jon Sommers
By Jon Sommers
This upcoming winter season, Mr. Bryan Ames and the Winter Percussion Ensemble(WPE) return with the theme “Stage 5.”
Freshman Jared Thieling said that he likes being in WPE because of “all cool sounding parts.” There are around 30 people in WPE. Thieling also said that he enjoys trying new things and he plays the bass drum. Thieling said that he started to play trumpet three years ago and started bass drum this year so he could be in WPE. He has been in three other music activities these include the marching band, the wind ensemble and the symphonic band. He does not think he will be famous with music in the future. ” I love music, but not enough to make it my living, I will continue in my life but not as my job.”
Sophomore Austin Dixon said that they “don’t have music yet, but we had a chance to listen to a piece and there was a tribal breakdown” and that is why he likes the music for WPE. Dixon’s reason for joining WPE is that he “wanted to have something to do during the winter instead of sitting around being bored.” Dixon was involved in marching band too. Like Thieling, Dixon plays trumpet. He also plays keys, synths and piano. This is Dixon’s first time participating in WPE. Dixon said that where he had grown up has influenced him to love music. “When life is hard on you, it’s [difficult] to find a refuge to pour yourself into and music was mine.”
Mr. Ames starts to teach the members in Winter Percussion Ensemble their music. Photo by: Jon Sommers
Senior Taylor Scott said that he likes to be challenged with music. This is now his fourth year participating in WPE. He is also involved in marching band too. Scott plays percussion mainly the marimba. Scott also said that nothing really influenced him to take part in music, but it was just based on his own choices.
Mr. Bryan Ames said he usually has around 30 members in WPE depending on the year. Mr. Ames wanted to be a band director or photographer in high school and college because he enjoys teaching kids life skills. He said he chose the theme name for this year’s WPE as “Stage 5” because it is based on the five cycles of sleep. In REM sleep cycles, the 5th stage is where the body becomes paralyzed and we enter the deepest dream stage. Mr. Ames said that he can play almost all the instruments at a decent levels, but he prefers to play the marimba. In the 6th grade he realized he loved creating music, but in his junior year in high school he realized that he wanted to be a band teacher.
A majority of the people in WPE are also involved in other music teams or bands. Many of the WPE members play instruments other than percussion, but they chose to learn a percussion instrument so they could join WPE. All the members have been practicing a few days a week for a month and are starting performances next month.