Dickerson Middle School’s Percussion Ensemble had quite a holiday break late last year. Dickerson percussionists received an invitation to travel north to play at  The Midwest Clinic at McCormick Place West in Chicago.  

This was the second time the ensemble was invited to the  conference; they also played in 2014. This makes Dickerson  the only middle school percussion ensemble to have received  multiple invitations to perform for each of the three most prestigious national music events for scholastic ensembles: The  Midwest Clinic (2014, 2023), the Music For All Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival (2010, 2014, 2018), and the  Percussive Arts Society International Convention (2019, 2022).  They were also named a National Winner in the 2023 Mark of  Excellence/National Percussion Ensemble Honors Project. 

DICKERSON AND WALTON  PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES TAKE THEIR SHOWS ON THE ROAD 1

Walton High School’s Percussion Ensemble

At the Midwest Clinic, the 38 musicians performed eight  pieces representing various styles and cultures. In addition to traditional concert percussion pieces, they showed  their international chops with Japanese Taiko and Brazilian  Samba. They performed the world premiere of the percussion arrangement of “Someday” by Walton High School’s  Orchestra Director, Perry Holbrook, which was guest conducted by Professor She-e Wu from Northwestern University.  Another highlight was their performance of “Kibo” by Andrea  Venet, which featured a snare solo by Colin Brewer, Walton’s  Assistant Percussion Director. 

Dickerson Assistant Principal Janie Smalley joined the  group and loved every minute of the trip. “I was honored  to attend the Midwest Clinic this year and support our  Percussion Ensembles. Watching their level of expertise and  passion expressed during their performance was nothing  less than extraordinary. Our students and music directors  represented Dickerson Middle School and the Cobb County  School District remarkably,” AP Smalley said proudly. 

Scott Brown is the Assistant Band Director at Dickerson,  as well as the Percussion Director at Walton. Nearly a month after taking his middle school percussionists to Chicago, he  was back on the road with his highschoolers, who played  at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service  Conference in Athens, Georgia, in late January. 

This was the Walton Percussion Ensemble’s first performance for the GMEA Conference and took place on  January 26th at The Classic Center. They played six pieces  composed between 1925 and 2022 that represented a wide  range of musical styles and influences, many of which were  advanced, collegiate-level compositions. 

“It was truly rewarding to be able to share the experience of preparation and performing for two prestigious  events with the students at both Dickerson and Walton,” said  Director Brown. “Both ensembles presented truly fantastic performances, and the students were incredible ambassadors for  our community and the Cobb County School District.” 

Two senior students—Zachary Gorman and Sarah Clark— were featured soloists during the GMEA event. Zachary  played a xylophone solo on “Xylophonia” written by Joe  Green and was accompanied by John Lawless, Director  of Percussion Studies at Kennesaw State University. Sarah  played a marimba solo on “Marimba Spiritual,” written by  Minoru Miki. 

Many in the audience were brought to tears by their  final piece, a stirring performance of “Thy Kingdom Come”  written by Jacob Remington. The piece is Remington’s  attempt to mimic the power and majesty of the last two  chapters of the biblical book of Revelation, and the students’ performance concluded with a handbell choir as the  last sounds of the show. 

Dickerson and Walton Percussion Ensembles will be featured at the annual “Evening of Percussion” on April 11th at  Walton High School at 7pm. Two days later, on April 13th, they  will perform during the Southeastern Percussion Ensemble  Symposium, hosted at Walton.