PASIC Festival By Lauren Vogel Weiss

When PAS was organized in 1961, marching per- cussion was quite rudimentary (pardon the pun!). Drum lines of the ’60s consisted of three or four snare drums, a matching number of tenor drums, one or two bass drums, and a pair of cymbals—a far cry from the 30- to 40-member ensembles of today. And there was no such thing as marching xylophones, let alone 5.0-octave marimbas “grounded” in the pit.

PASIC ’85 marching festival

percussive notes 16 SEPTEMBER 2011 ust as PAS evolved, so did marching percussion. The for- the following November. mation of (DCI) in 1972 show- Thanks to the additional cased the expanding drum lines. By the end of that decade, and persistent efforts of timp-tom trios had morphed into quads. Bass drum lines Bob Schietroma [host Jhad three to four “tonal” pitches. The development and widespread of that convention and use of carriers allowed drum sections to move more. And many percussion instructor at drum lines had at least a set of marching bells and a 2.5-octave North Texas State], we marching xylophone, if not a 2.0-octave marching marimba and a ‘sold’ the idea to PAS 2.5-octave marching vibe! and held the first national As marching bands across the country emulated the innovative contest later that year.” drum lines of DCI, marching percussion soon became an important part of the ensemble. But unlike DCI—where the drum section had PASICS ’82–’87 its own scoring category in competitions—most marching bands The first PAS “March- judged these drum lines under the music caption, along with wood- ing Competition” was winds and brass. There was little or no standard of comparison held at PASIC ’82 in Dal- between different drum lines, nor any specific feedback to assist in las on Sunday afternoon, their improvement. Nov. 21. (This was back when the convention con- THE FIRST DRUM LINE CONTEST tinued through Sunday; When Ward Durrett moved to the Chicago area in the late 1970s, even the exhibits were he began teaching marching percussion at several high schools, open until noon that day.) including the well-known Glenbrook North High School in North- Durrett, who was the brook, Illinois. “At that time, the thought process was that percus- Marching Percussion Coordinator for Slingerland at that time, was sion sections weren’t getting much workable, usable info from the official “Competition Director,” and Fred Sanford served as the ,” Durrett recalls. “So Peter Herr, director of bands first Master of Ceremonies, a position he would fill for the next 17 at Glenbrook North, and I were trying to think of something where years. The contest was held in Stemmons Auditorium at the Loews percussion students could get a more valid input. Because the high Anatole Hotel, an excellent venue for performers and audience school had recently opened a new state-of-the-art auditorium, we members alike. came up with the idea of putting marching drum lines on the new Twelve college drum lines from six states converged on Dallas stage and offering them the opportunity to perform and be assessed that weekend. “One of my favorite memories from all the festivals on their own merits. This new contest would give percussionists a was from that one,” Durrett recalls. “Western Illinois University chance to find out what other schools were doing, as well as be able doing a halftime show at their ballgame on Saturday, getting on a to learn from them. bus, driving all night, getting off the bus—no sleep!—performing, “Our first contest, in December of 1980, had only “two colleges coming in second, and getting back on the bus and driving back to and five high schools,” he continues, “but it turned out to be a very Macomb for class.” positive experience for everybody. The shows were the culmination The University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of of marching season. Thanks to effective word of mouth, the next Louisiana at Lafayette) won that first contest with a score of 89.75. year we had seven colleges and 13 high schools. We owe a great deal Judges for the first contest were Rob Carson, Dennis DeLucia (his to the Glenbrook North band parent organization for taking the risk Bridgemen drum line gave a demonstration at the convention the to support such an event, even though they didn’t make any money day before), , Carl Ruocco, Dan Spalding, and George the first year. But they stuck with it and, as they say, ‘The rest is his- Tuthill. Lauren Vogel, who would assist Durrett with the contest for tory!’” the next five years, served as the tabulator, complete with calculator Following the success of the Spartan Marching Percussion Fes- and carbon paper (to provide “instant” recaps without the availabil- tivals in Northbrook, ity of a copy machine). Illinois, Durrett—as- “We used the same general format as the Spartan Festival,” Dur- sisted by well-known rett explains, “except that we experimented with different judging. marching percussion We tried the Olympic system—throwing out the highest and low- specialist Fred San- est score and averaging the rest—but that was a dismal failure. We ford—hoped to bring ended up going back to the system we used at the Spartan Festival this new concept to a the following year in Knoxville.” national level. “Dur- To emphasize the educational aspect of the new contest, PAS ing the Texas Music renamed it the “PAS Marching Forum” in 1983, a title that would Educators Association be used for the next decade. The contest continued to be held on convention in February Sunday afternoon for three more years: at the Knoxville Convention of 1982,” remembers Center (PASIC ’83), at the Power Center on the campus of the Uni- Durrett, “Fred, Bob versity of Michigan (PASIC ’84), and outdoors on the top level of Houston [percussion the Getty Parking Lot Structure at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in instructor at East Los Angeles (PASIC ’85). Texas State], Jay “It was always an interesting adventure going from site to site,” Wanamaker [Chair Durrett remembers. “At the Anatole it was easy because it was on of the PAS March- a stage in that marvelous auditorium. But we did it outside in L.A. ing Committee at the on Sunday morning, and one of the local residents called the police! time], and I wanted to Fortunately, we only had five lines that year, so we finished before it include it into the PAS became too much of a problem.” Ward Durrett convention in Dallas The rules for the contest also evolved over the years. For ex-

percussive notes 17 SEPTEMBER 2011 ample, PASIC ’85 was the second year in a row that North Texas State University (now the Uni- versity of North Texas) won the PAS title (on their way to a total of 14 national championships), but it may be remem- bered as the year of the “UCLA belly dancers.” So the following year, the rules were revised to state that each performer in the ensemble—includ- ing dancers—must play a . “The drum lines evolved very quickly from ’82, when there was very little, if any, movement, to Dennis DeLucia the point where the col- lege groups, and eventually the more advanced high school groups, were doing a lot of movement,” says Dennis DeLucia, who judged the first two contests at PASIC. “The quality of playing improved rather dramatically, especially at the university level and with so many of the Texas groups. When we were in a location with a lot of Texas schools, the general level was extremely high.” As PAS celebrated its 25th anniversary at PASIC ’86 in Washing- ton, D.C., the Marching Forum moved from Sunday to Friday. (It was not practical to hold the event on Saturday, as that was the day most colleges played their football games and the drum lines were part of the halftime shows.) The Friday schedule has remained in effect ever since. It was also the first year that PASIC appointed a local marching coordinator, Marshall Maley. The PASIC ’86 march- ing event was held at Lisner Auditorium, on the campus of George Washington University. “It wasn’t a problem for the people who were involved to get there,” explains Durrett, “but it was difficult getting the non-marching people to attend. That was always an is- sue when we selected the venues.” In the spirit of education, PASIC tried to expose attendees to all types of percussion, including march- ing, but the distance between venues sometimes made that a difficult proposition. The following statement was printed in the PASIC ’86 program (including the boldface type): “Note! This is the fifth annual PAS National Marching Percussion Forum. Competition open for ob- servation to PASIC ’86 registrants, parents and friends. Please, no noise or applause!” For anyone who has ever attended a PAS marching event, this statement draws a chuckle, as audience re- sponse is an important part of the marching activity. The competition in Washington was also the first time that two previous champions competed against each other: North Texas State’s use of lighted drumsticks during its finale—along with dim- ming the lights in the auditorium—brought the house down as they won their third consecutive title and bested the University of South- western Louisiana by less than a point. NTSU’s show was also the impetus for another rule change: “Use of auditorium/stage lighting will be prohibited.” “The next year was originally supposed to be at the [St. Louis] Arch,” Durrett remembers, “but the reason it was moved to the Scottish Rite Cathedral was because we had to deal with three gov- ernment bodies—the Mississippi River Authority, the National Park Service, and the city of St. Louis—to get permission to use the facil- ity. When the original PASIC host, Pat Hanley, passed away, there was no local person to spearhead all of it. I don’t think people realize

percussive notes 18 SEPTEMBER 2011 percussive notes 19 SEPTEMBER 2011 the hoops we had to jump through to make this happen year after year.” (PAS did still hold a “March to the Arch” that year, where View a list of winners and scores participants played “Three Camps.”) from every PAS Marching Festival at Web Extra HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION After six years of organizing the marching www.pas.org/publications/September2011webextras.aspx competition at PASIC, Durrett decided to take a break. Lauren Vogel, who had worked with Ward on this event since its inception, level was Morehead State. I thought they were magnificent for sev- took over as Contest Director for PASIC ’88 in San Antonio. There eral years. At the high school level, Marcus stands out in my mind had been several inquiries from high school teachers in Texas about over the years as another one that has been brilliantly written and participating in this event, so PAS decided to try a high school divi- consistently performed.” sion. Twelve high schools registered in September—the maximum The next two conventions—one on the East Coast and one on the number the schedule would permit—although only nine lines actu- West Coast—resulted in smaller contests with no high school divi- ally competed in November. Ten college lines entered, but two had sion. The Marching Forum at PASIC ’90 in Philadelphia, organized to cancel due to last-minute scheduling conflicts. by Gus Barbaro and held at 12 Caesars, saw only four competing This was before the widespread use of computers. All the com- colleges. USL got a rematch of the Washington, D.C. competition, munication, including schedules—and then revised schedules—was losing to UNT by only half a point. done via regular mailings. This was also before the national office or- Tad Carpenter was the Contest Director for PASIC ’91 in Ana- ganized all the entries and paperwork. Even the judges’ worksheets heim. Held next door to the Disneyland Hotel at the Pan Pacific and scoresheets were prepared by the contest director. San Antonio Hotel, five colleges competed, with UNT winning its third title in a was also the first location where a meeting was scheduled before the row and seventh overall. This resulted in yet another rule revision: event to allow the directors to see exactly where their groups would at the Marching Committee Meeting it was decided that (beginning perform, as well as where to unload and warm up. in 1992) “a winner could only repeat as champions for three con- PASIC ’88 saw Morehead State University win the first of its secutive years before taking a year off from competition. (Exhibition four titles in the college division on Friday morning, beating former would be allowed.)” champion University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) by less than PASIC ’92 in New Orleans saw the return of the High School two points. (The University of North Texas performed in exhibi- Division with Marcus High School from Flower Mound, Texas tion that year.) L.D. Bell High School from Hurst, Texas won the winning the first of its ten titles. The competition was held in the first high school division on Saturday morning. Following the high Superdome, just a few blocks away from the rest of the convention school competition, there was an exhibition by the Old Guard Fife at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where Morehead State claimed the and Drum Corps. This was also the first year that each participant second of its four titles. Marty Hurley served as the Local Marching received a certificate, and Remo continued to give “drumhead Coordinator as well as the Contest Director, assisted by Vogel. New awards” (special certificates mounted in drumheads) to the winning Orleans was also the first time that Al Moffat joined the contest as schools, as well as the first-ever caption awards for Best Snare Line, Stage Manager, a position he has held for the past 20 years. And Tenor Line, Bass Line, Cymbal Line, and Pit. thanks to Moffat’s dedication, the competition almost always stays Ward Durrett returned as Contest Director for PASIC ’89 in on schedule! Nashville. The Marching Forum was held in Jackson Hall of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. This was also the first year that PAS MARCHING PERCUSSION FESTIVAL the scores were tabulated on a computer! For the third time in the When PASIC moved to Columbus in 1993, PAS decided to re- college division, two prior winners competed against each other— name the “Marching Forum”the “PAS Marching Percussion Festi- defending champions Morehead State University against three-time val,” reflecting more of what the competition had become over the winner University of years. Also, the term “festival” was a more appealing term for young North Texas. UNT won percussionists than “forum.” Jeff Hartsough and Derrick Logozzo its fifth title. served as co-chairs of Field Percussion for the local planning com- When asked if any lines mittee. Thirteen college drum lines competed, with UNT winning its stood out in his memory eighth title. Battelle Hall provided an excellent venue for the audi- from his years of judging ence to view the performers from many angles. and observing the com- In 1994, PAS appointed Lauren Vogel Weiss Chair of the March- petition, Dennis DeLucia ing Percussion Committee. This was the first time that the Chair paused before replying, would coordinate the Marching Percussion Festival with the local “Certainly, North Texas marching host. She continued as Chair and Contest Director for the was probably the most next three years. dramatically consistent Mike Back was the local marching host for PASIC ’94. The Col- and effective, both in lege Drum Line Division was held at the Atlanta Civic Center on terms of how brilliantly Friday morning, with UNT winning its ninth title in 13 years. The written the programs High School Division, held Friday evening, saw Marcus High were and how well the School win its second championship. That was the first year PAS kids were trained, and charged a separate admission fee to the Marching Percussion Fes- how well they played ev- tival. Registered PASIC attendees could attend the event as part of ery area, both battery and the convention, but parents and other fans who had not registered . For me, for PASIC could buy a $5.00 ticket that included admission to both the other ensemble that the Marching Festival and the exhibit area, which raised $1,625 for stood out at the university Lauren Vogel Weiss PAS. Atlanta was also the first time members of the winning drum

percussive notes 20 SEPTEMBER 2011 lines received special PAS “When you chair the Marching Committee, you don’t get to at- Championship T-shirts, tend much of the actual convention at all,” Davila laughs. “The thanks to the generous office and administrative staff were now helping with the logistics support of Pearl, in addi- of getting supplies, organizing the entries, and drawing for perfor- tion to the other awards mance placement. However, the majority of the actual hands-on donated by Remo. And running of the event was coordinated with the help of [PAS Direc- for the third year in a tor of Event Production & Marketing] Jeff Hartsough, [Graphic row, Pearl donated “tro- Designer] Hillary Henry, myself, and any committee members who phy drums” to the win- volunteered to help. The position of Marching Committee Chair ning lines. Most of the requires a large amount of organizational time leading up to the manufacturers of march- convention and almost a complete sacrifice of time during the event. ing equipment were given In addition to the chair’s large commitment of time and effort, the the opportunity to donate members of the Marching Committee—some of the activity’s lead- awards, and the drum ing authorities in marching percussion—have always been generous line T-shirts were rotated to volunteer their time and expertise to adjudicate the Festival and among the companies on Individuals competitions to be sure that the PASIC experience is a yearly basis. positive for all the students.” The contest in Atlanta Over the years, many marching percussion teachers and play- sparked another rule ers volunteered their time to judge the drum line events. Without change. After PASIC ’94, a separate budget to pay for adjudicators, the festival depended on the rules included this: Julie Davila these people who would already be at the convention. Some of the “No woodwind, no brass, more frequent adjudicators were Tad Carpenter (who judged drum and no string instruments are allowed. Vocals will be allowed only line contests 13 times, not including Individuals), Matt Savage (11), if the performer plays a percussion instrument for more than half Jeff Prosperie (10), Rob Carson and John Wooton (8), and Scott of the total performance time.” This “no clarinet rule” was due to Johnson and Jeff Moore (7). In 1996, and for several years after Stockbridge (Georgia) High School using two clarinets in its show that, PAS was able to pay each adjudicator a small stipend for his or at PASIC ’94. Each rule infraction would be a 2-point penalty (e.g., her time and expenses. two clarinets would cost a group 4 points). Only six drum lines traveled to California for PASIC ’97, where PASIC ’95 was held in Phoenix, and Paul Buyer served as the the festival was held in the arena of the Anaheim Convention Center contest host. The Drum Line Contest, held at Phoenix Symphony with Carol Carpenter serving as the local marching host. Eleven Hall, included six colleges and nine high schools, along with an au- drum lines attended PASIC ’98 at the Orange County Convention dience of over 1,500 people. The college division featured another championship rematch, this one between Morehead State and UNT, with Morehead coming out on top by only a quarter-of-a-point. The high school division also featured a close contest, with Marcus win- ning its third title by defeating Texas rival Plano Senior High School by only a half point. Due to the close contests, the Marching Com- mittee added another rule: “In the case of a numerical tie for first place, the individual/school with the most number of first-place votes will be declared the winner. If it is still a tie, whoever has the highest execution/performance marks will be declared the winner.” PASIC ’95 was also the beginning of a new tradition for the festi- val: a separate program distributed at the venue. It included sched- ules for all the marching competitions as well as pictures and bios for the judges. Special recognition for this “mini program” goes to Shawn Brown, who served as PAS Director of Publications at that time. The 1996 PAS Marching Percussion Festival had one of its two most successful contests in the festival’s history. Thanks to the loca- tion in Nashville, along with the local marching coordinators George Barrett and Julie Davila, PASIC ’96 welcomed 18 college drum lines and 13 high school lines to the Nashville Convention Center. (The other festival that saw 31 lines perform was PASIC 2000 in Dallas.) This was the first time that PAS rented bleachers in an ex- hibit hall venue so the audience could better view the competition. Due to the large number of competing lines, PAS added approxi- mately 1,000 new members in 1996. And many students brought their parents, so there was a definite increase in foot traffic through the exhibit hall. In 1997, Julie Davila was appointed Chair of the Marching Per- cussion Committee, a position she held for the next ten years. She continued the tradition of serving as both chair of the committee and director of the festival. And she was the only contest director who also had marched as a member of a competing (and winning) drum line: the University of North Texas in 1985, 1986, and 1987!

percussive notes 21 SEPTEMBER 2011 Center in Orlando, where Jeff Moore was the local marching host. division (compared to the “marching” division), which was won by UNT won its eleventh PAS Championship, and Plano Senior High L.D. Bell H.S. (who had won the first high school division at PASIC School defeated four-time winner Marcus High School for its first ’88). The PASIC 2000 Marching Percussion Festival introduced national title. audiences to a new Master of Ceremonies, Dennis DeLucia, who PASIC ’99 returned to Columbus and the Battelle Hall venue, holds the position to this day. He was assisted in Dallas by local ra- but drew only six competing schools. Donnie Gray organized this dio announcer Dan Potter, who some may know as the voice of DCI 18th edition of the festival. The high school division was again won contests in the South. by Marcus, which claimed its fifth national title that decade. This Is there a difference between judging a show and announcing was also the first time since its inception that Fred Sanford did not it? “It’s easy to disengage while emceeing,” DeLucia replies. “I can serve as Master of Ceremonies; his health did not permit him to at- say my piece, sit down, listen and let my mind wander. I try not to, tend the convention, and he passed away on January 23, 2000. His especially since most of the groups are so good that my mind doesn’t spirit lives on at the PASIC Festival through the award for highest wander. But when you’re judging, you have to be focused all the overall ensemble score (regardless of division or category) named in time because you have a decision to make. As an emcee, I tend to his memory. This traveling award was created to honor Sanford for not focus on any one thing in particular; I just step back and try to his passion for the artform and his dedication to the marching com- absorb the totality of what’s being presented. Do I like it or not? Is it munity and PAS. well written or not? Is it well played?” “The Festival has had to go through some changes over the Despite the emphasis on scores and winners, the Marching Per- years,” Davila says. “With the convention always being held in the cussion Festival was achieving all of its original goals and then some. fall during the football and marching band competition seasons, It allowed drum lines to receive direct feedback from leading march- there are extra challenges to keep the participation strong. Addition- ing authorities—each school received an audio tape of comments in ally, WGI has become a strong influence in the country, with many addition to scoresheets—and to see what others were doing in the schools participating in indoor drum line shows during the winter genre. And a healthy dose of competition pushed the composers, ar- and spring months. To help meet the challenges of schools across the rangers, and teachers to new levels as they tried to outperform each country trying to decide whether to compete in the fall at PASIC or other. the spring at WGI, the Marching Committee decided to implement The Marching Percussion Festival returned to the Nashville Con- a standstill division at the Festival. Schools could now perform their vention Center for PASIC 2001, featuring six colleges and twelve marching band show music at PASIC and be adjudicated by a terrif- high schools (in two categories). Middle Tennessee State University ic judging panel. This would help keep kids and programs involved won its first national drum line championship, and Marcus H.S. won with PAS without feeling pressured to try to get an entire new show its third in a row (making it ineligible to compete in 2002), for a total ready for competition in addition to their marching band show. of seven titles. Hometown favorite Father Ryan H.S. won the High “We also implemented a Small Ensemble division,” she adds. “The School Standstill Division. Marching Percussion Committee continues to work hard by brain- The Marching Percussion Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary storming ways to keep the festival a strong entity at PASIC. PAS at PASIC 2002 in Columbus with a new category: Small Ensembles. and the Marching Committee’s first and foremost mission is to the Two colleges and two high schools entered small ensembles, along students. The educational value of attending a PASIC is irreplace- with seven other schools in the college division plus two high schools able.” in standstill and three high schools in the marching category. The 2003 festival was held in the Louisville Gardens arena with 25 drum PASIC 2000 lines (14 high school and 11 college), placing it in the “top 5” for The final PASIC of the 20th century brought the Marching Per- participation. Unusually balmy weather for Louisville in November cussion Festival back to Texas in one of its most successful contests, allowed drum lines to warm up in an adjoining outdoor plaza, en- again featuring 31 competing ensembles. Kennan Wylie served as tertaining local businesspeople during their lunch hour and drawing the local coordinator for the events held at the Dallas Convention coverage on local TV stations. Center. His Marcus High School drum line won its sixth National PASIC 2004 brought the festival (and 20 drum lines) back to Championship at PASIC 2000 while UNT added its twelfth title. Nashville, where Marcus H.S. won its ninth championship. The This was also the first year of a separate high school “standstill” festival returned to Columbus (this time in an exhibit hall) at PASIC 2005, where 12 drum lines (nine high school and three college) competed. That year the Fred Sanford Award (for the highest overall ensemble score) went to East Tennessee State University for its small ensemble pre- sentation. Two of the next three festivals were in Texas at the Austin Conven- tion Center: PASIC 2006 brought 30 competing drum lines to the Lone Star state. Texas Christian University won its first PAS championship in the college division, while perennial powerhouse UNT brought only two small ensembles (which placed first and second). It was a tight race in the high school marching drum line divi- sion; Marcus H.S. and Flower Mound The University of North Texas won the first Fred Sanford award at PASIC 2002. H.S. tied, but because of the tiebreak

percussive notes 22 SEPTEMBER 2011 rule (counting the number of first-place votes), Flower Mound won was held on Sunday the first of its two titles (the other was at PASIC 2007). The Fred morning at PASIC ’83 in Sanford Award that year went to Georgetown (Texas) High School Knoxville. With only one for its standstill performance. category, snare drummer “Whenever the convention made it in to a part of the country John Wooton, then a stu- where we knew there was already a pool, the Marching Festival dent at the University of was always going to be successful,” explains Durrett. “It was always Southwestern Louisiana, going to be big in Tennessee, but it was always unbelievably big any- was selected as the win- where in Texas.” ner. The following year, In 2007, PAS appointed Neal Flum Interim Chair of the March- there were categories for ing Percussion Committee, a position he would be given on a per- snare, tenor, and key- manent basis in 2008. That year saw 29 competing units converge board. North Texas State in Austin (22 high school drum lines, including two from Marcus University student Ken- and two from Colleyville Heritage, and seven colleges, plus one in nan Wylie won the first of exhibition). Colleyville Heritage High School (Colleyville, Texas) his three snare drum titles narrowly defeated Marcus for its second championship, while UNT (the others were in 1985 captured its 14th title in the festival’s history. Prior to the Awards and 1987), Leif Marwede ceremony, longtime PAS judge Scott Johnson (perhaps better from Michigan State won known as the Director of Percussion for the World Champion Con- the first tenor title, and cord Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps) played the snare drum solo Tim Tiedemann won the he performed in 1978 when he won DCI Individuals. first PAS keyboard title. Neal Flum “That was a particularly wonderful moment for me,” Flum re- The timpani category was members, “because Scott taught me in the Blue Devils when I added in 1987. played tenors in 1983.” Flum also added more exhibitions the next The list of college students who have won a PAS Individual two years: Tim Jackson performed a multi-tenor solo and Matt Sav- Award is almost a “Who’s Who” in the field of percussion. Besides age played a snare solo as well as a multiple marching percussion the aforementioned Wooton (now the Director of Percussion Stud- piece in 2009. And last year, The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps ies at the University of Southern Mississippi) and Wylie (who has performed. been teaching at Marcus High School for 20 years), some of the When PASIC was scheduled for Indianapolis in 2009, the format Individual winners include: Andrew Beall (Keyboard 2001, Manhat- of the marching festival had to change. “This area—Indiana, Ohio, tan School of Music), composer, performer and current New York Michigan—has really become the heartbeat of the indoor WGI PAS Chapter President; David Bergman (Timpani 2001, UNT), season,” explains Dennis DeLucia. “Those groups are no longer willing to put together an indoor show for November. So we had to do something different and change the format dramatically to more of a clinic setting where there is input from one classically-oriented percussion clinician and one or two marching-oriented people. The scope is much broader now that there are no scores any longer. I find it fascinating.” PAS appointed an ad hoc committee consisting of DeLucia, Jeff Hartsough, Michael Kenyon, Don Click, and Neal Flum to rethink the Marching Festival structure and search for ways to increase the educational focus of the festival when PASIC is hosted in the Mid- west. “We met several times to develop some ideas about how we might increase the level of participation in the Marching Percussion Festival,” says Flum. “One of the ideas, contributed by Dennis, that came from our discussions was to have an interactive format where groups could come and perform whatever they wanted with what- ever instrumentation they wanted. They would receive input from clinicians—not just marching clinicians but also people from outside the world of marching percussion.” The first interactive marching clinic—almost a master class for drum lines—was held at PASIC 2009 with DeLucia and She-e Wu working with four high school ensembles. The following year, six high schools participated in the interactive session, which was evalu- ated by Tom Aungst and Michael Burritt.

INDIVIDUALS Another important aspect of the Marching Percussion competition at PASIC is the Individuals (or solo) contest. First added for college students in 1983, it was coordinated during its early years by Lauren Vogel, who had won DCI’s “Best Individual Keyboard” in 1982 as a member of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. She wanted to offer that competitive opportunity to members of PAS, creating another reason to join the organization. The first “Individuals Competition for Marching Instruments”

percussive notes 23 SEPTEMBER 2011 U.S. Military Academy Band; Dr. Robert Bridge (Keyboard 1985 followed by a clinic/performance from Rhythm X, a past champion and 1986, NTSU), Professor of Percussion at Onondaga Com- in WGI’s Independent World classification.” munity College; Tim Jackson (Tenor 2005, Ohio State Univer- sity), four-time DCI Multi-Tenor Champion and current Battery CONCLUSION Coordinator for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps; JJ Pipitone Ward Durrett puts the PAS Marching Percussion Festival in (Tenor 1990, Morehead State University), Percussion Instructor perspective. “It’s an important link in the evolution of the indoor at Grapevine (Texas) High School and DCI Judge; Jeff Prosperie competitive activity as it exists today. Having those early contests at (Snare 1988, Louisiana State University), USMA “Hellcats” and PASIC gave the concept credibility. Marching percussion is a legiti- former Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Louisiana mate ensemble art form, and it involves so many more young people at Lafayette; Jeff Queen (Snare 1994 and 1995, UNT), original cast than other avenues of performance. The Marching Percussion Fes- member of the Tony-award-winning Broadway show Blast; and She- tival is a major part of the convention. Those of us involved in the e Wu (Keyboard 1991, UNT), Associate Professor of Percussion at beginning saw its value early on and worked hard to keep it a part of Northwestern University. Many past Individual winners have gone PAS.” on to teach at the high school level, preparing young students to “The Marching Percussion Festival has always been a critical part follow in their footsteps. Listing oneself as the winner of a PAS Indi- of the overall PASIC experience,” adds Julie Davila. “While there vidual title is a valuable credential on resumes and bios of dozens of are several areas of interest for young people at the convention, percussionists across the country. marching percussion has always been a leader for that younger de- One other well-known PASIC Individuals winner is Julie Sut- mographic. The Festival, as well as the marching clinics and the In- ton, a student at NTSU who won the College Keyboard category in dividuals competition, has served as a ‘hook’ for many students and 1987. Better known today as Julie Davila, her recollection of that teachers through the years. The Festival is the best way to involve a PASIC is still strong. “I have terrific memories of the year I per- large number of high school and college students. Not only do they formed in the snare line with the University of North Texas drum enjoy the privilege of performing at PASIC, they also have full ac- line and won mallet individuals,” she recalls. “I came off the stage cess to all the other concerts and clinics throughout the duration of after performing my mallet solo in exhibition at the conclusion of the convention. The diversity of PASIC and the additional exposure the festival, and I’ll never forget how it felt when Fred Sanford said, to all genres of percussion can motivate students to explore numer- ‘You just played your ass off! Great job!’ I had idolized him through ous areas of percussion, broadening their interests and abilities.” my high school and college years, and it was always a great feeling On behalf of literally thousands of participants in the PAS March- to know that even though he was the announcer for the festival, he ing Percussion Festival over the years, “thank you” to all the volun- was always watching and rooting for you.” teer leaders, judges, committee chairs and members, manufacturers, By 1985, the Individuals contest was moved from Sunday to artists, and clinicians for their contributions in creating this impor- Saturday, and then the following year to Thursday, where it has re- tant component of PASIC and PAS history. PN mained ever since. In 1994, High School Individuals were added to the festival, with 15 competitors that first year. A Rudimental Snare category was added in 1994 but only drew one competitor its first year. A Multiple Percussion category was added to the College Divi- sion in 1996 and reinstated in 2010. Thanks to Vogel’s industry connections from her years at Lone Star Percussion, she was able to convince more companies to donate awards to the contest as the years went by. Now, in addition to the drum lines receiving trophies as well as special T-shirts and sticks for each member, Individual winners also received a prize. contributed a stick bag full of mallets and sticks to the winners. By 2001, over 90 students, representing almost two dozen states, competed in Individuals. At PASIC 2004, the number of Individuals grew to 100 for the first time—58 high school students and 42 col- lege, representing 25 states. PASIC 2005 saw the first international entries—three snare drummers from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. And the Individuals contest reached its peak one year later in Austin where 107 individuals (65 high school and 42 college) representing 21 states competed at PASIC 2006.

PASIC 2011 “This year we will have the interactive format again,” Neal Flum explains. “The guest clinicians will be Michael McIntosh and Robert van Sice. After the morning session, we are scheduled to have exhi- bitions by Oklahoma State University, the University of Massachu- setts, and the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps, followed by exhibitions from the high school Individual award winners. We’ve added a second format—an ‘invitational’—to complete the rest of the day. We sent invitations to various highly respected marching percussion programs around the United States, and we hope to have them perform and be evaluated by three outstanding clinicians: Julie Davila, Bret Kuhn, and Tom Rarick. After each group performs, one of the clinicians will make comments to the students. At the end of that session, we’ll have the college Individual competition winners

percussive notes 25 SEPTEMBER 2011