Local percussion group to compete in world championship tournament
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IDAHO FALLS — North Star Independent, an Idaho Falls-based percussion ensemble, is headed for Dayton, Ohio to compete in the Winter Guard International World Championships.
The group consists of 30 members from across Idaho, ages 14 to 23. NSI boasts members from Idaho high schools and universities, including Bonneville High, Idaho Falls High, Shelley High, Idaho State University and Boise State University. The group recently won their division at the Regional Championships in Kaysville, Utah.
“There are hundreds of competitive drumlines throughout the United States and the world that compete in the winter,” NSI Director Jason Jennings told EastIdahoNews.com. “We are one of three percussion groups based in Idaho, and we’re the only one that goes to world championships. It’s kind of hard to explain word-to-word what we do, but it’s basically just drums in a gym.”
NSI competes in Winter Guard International, a competitive indoor sports circuit for marching drumlines, color guards and wind instruments based in Dayton Ohio. After a season of regional tournaments, groups from across the country are gathering in Dayton this week to compete in the WGI World Championships.
Jennings said the criteria for judging the percussion portion of the competition is broken down into three areas.
“They judge us on music, which is what our kids play and how well they play it, visual, which is what our kids do movement-wise and how well we do it,” he said. “Then there’s a third caption called ‘General Effect.” Basically, that’s ‘how cool is your show and how cool do your kids make it look.’”
The North Star musicians have been working towards this tournament since last fall. The process started with auditions in October. Rehearsals and regional competitions followed throughout the autumn and winter seasons. Jennings said a willingness and ability to work are essential attributes for North Star percussionists.
“If they’re willing to work hard, we can teach them what they need to know,” he said. “We teach them the show, and we teach them how to work as a team. It’s a big teamwork thing. We’re bringing kids from low levels of beginners to our advanced kids and put all together and teach them how to work together to get to one common goal.”
That hard work has paid off for the North Star musicians. Jennings said the excitement level to compete for a world championship is high.
“The kids are crazy excited,” he said. “We just had a Zoom meeting with them last night. They’re excited to go see the other groups there. They’re excited to fly. We have three or four kids who have never even flown before and they get to do their first flight with us.”
“They’re excited to see new arenas and all the people that they know on Instagram and Facebook,” he added. “This activity has made them friends and now they get to see each other in person. That’s what they’re excited about.”
The North Star Independent percussion group competes in the Winter Guard International World Championships beginning Thursday, April 20. Visit the WGI website for more information.
Competing on an interstate level is expensive, so NSI welcomes donations to help them pay the costs of trips like this week’s Ohio trip. Donations helped the group recently buy a trailer to haul all their gear around in.
“We have the money to get everyone there and back safely,” Jennings said. “But it would be nice if we could provide meals for the kids while they’re out there. Instead of making them buy food on their own, we’d love to go in there and order them some pizza. We’re also going to spend $2500 on fuel getting over there and traveling in Ohio.”
You can click here to donate to North Star Independent.