Two seniors win drumline competition, travel to state and world competition later

MHS students will be traveling to Colorado Springs on April 14th for State and to Dayton, Ohio on April 18th-21st for World Championships performing a rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

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Aiden Owen

The show revolves around the ever-beating “Tell-Tale Heart”

Aiden Owen, Photography Editor

Update 4/16/18: The band won first at their state competition!

On March 31st, the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association (RMPA) hosted a competition at Longmont High School. The event hosted over 25 different indoor drumlines from around the state, all competing for first place in their “class.” A class is the equivalent of a division in most sports.

There are varying levels of competition, as well as different types of groups. For example, There are concert groups, similar to our school’s percussion ensemble, and marching groups, similar to a marching band, though only percussion. The varying classes include A, Open, and World.

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Robert McKenna plays drumset for the band

Mead High’s very own seniors Robert McKenna and Mariana Tiscareño participated in this competition with the Longmont High School Indoor Percussion ensemble, winning their 2nd competition in a row in their division this season. The ensemble has won 7 (now 8) total state championships since 1998, with the past 4 (now 5) being consecutive.

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Tiscareño and McKenna are congratulated for coming in first.

You can follow their Instagram here.

When preparing for their performances the students practice usually upwards of 16 hours per week.

“The hardest part [of practicing] has been not just learning the music, but learning how to perform,” according to McKenna, “How to make the faces and move. It’s also the funnest part because I get to go *******”

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McKenna get into character before the performance

The performance is not simply musical, it is dramatic in its entirety. Students get into character through costume as well as acting. The music they play works in accordance with the storyline of the text they’ve chosen, this year the band chose Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

When asked why they chose that piece, Tiscareño responded, “Our director, the one who writes our music, works with a band in California. They used a wood floor last year. They were trying to figure out what to do with this wood floor when one day it just clicked. The Tell-Tale Heart would work perfectly with this”

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  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

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The band has two competitions coming up, one in Colorado Springs on April 14th, for their state championships, and the other in Dayton, Ohio from April 18th-21st.

“I’m excited for Dayton, but I’m really nervous for State because we’re state champions and we gotta defend that title,” said McKenna when asked how he felt about the upcoming competitions.

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  • Tiscareño and McKenna are congratulated for coming in first.

  • The show revolves around the ever-beating “Tell-Tale Heart”

  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

  • “One side is a modern take on a victorian look. That’s supposed to be the sane side. When we turn that side towards the audience we show that he’s not that crazy, but when we turn the other side towards the audience we show just how crazy he is” [Tiscareño On the Costume]

  • “The cajón solo in the second movement represents the act of putting him under the floorboards”

  • With the thunder of the cymbals McKenna locks in the groove of the band

  • “You never stop being terrified in front of an audience. You just get comfortable with being terrified.”

  • “My favorite part, because I love playing music so much,” Says Tiscareño, “I love getting together and making music together. I love watching everyone else’s shows”

  • “In the music a lot of it contrasts between collectedness and insanity there are crazy rhythms and crunchy chords”

  • “That whole thing with the pulsing. He starts hearing the heartbeat”

  • Robert McKenna plays drumset for the band

  • McKenna loves, “the thrill of going in front of an audience and competing in front of hundreds, and in Dayton, probably thousands of people”

  • “At the very beginning you hear how it’s calm and collected and shows how he’s sane”

  • McKenna get into character before the performance

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