The second season of Newtown High School’s revitalized Indoor Winter Percussion ensemble came to a successful conclusion on Saturday, April 4, when NHS brought home a bronze medal in the Marching A division of the Musical Arts Conference (MAC) Championships, held at Westhills High School, Stamford.

Competing against five other high schools from the tri-state region, Newtown narrowly missed silver by 0.5 points, scoring 89.1 to Westhill’s 89.65 and Stamford High School’s winning score of 91.75.

Newtown Percussion Director Dave Brush said his group’s success was due in large part to the dedication and passion of its 28 members. Mr Brush added that he was particularly impressed with how well Newtown did, despite weather issues throughout the season.

“We lost many hours of rehearsal. If they hadn’t stepped up and rehearsed on different days and learned the show so quickly, it may have been a different outcome,” he said.

Mr Brush pointed out that Newtown earned a solid third place against groups that have been active Winter Percussion ensembles for 10 to 15 years.

“Our music score was second overall in our class, against gold medalist Stamford High School and silver medalist Westhill. Both Westhill and Stamford will be going on to WGI Winter Percussion Finals in Dayton, Ohio, next week, so I’d say that shows the caliber of our performance,” Mr Brush said.

The percussion section of the Newtown Marching Band and Guard will begin rehearsing the first week of May for next fall’s show. Interested NHS, as well as Newtown Middle School, students are invited to contact NHS Band Director Kurt Eckhardt at the high school, by email at eckhardtk@newtown.k12.ct.us, for more information and to be a part of this group of dedicated, award-winning student musicians.