Several ninth grade percussionists will attend the Percussive Arts Society International convention in Indianapolis next month. They were part of the Wiley percussion ensemble last spring and were selected out of thousands of middle school ensembles nationwide to represent the middle school category at this year’s convention.

PASIC is a four-day convention with everything from clinics, to contests, to concerts by some of the most recognized percussion clinicians and performing ensembles, making it the largest percussion event in the world.

“I am most excited for these kids to get to go through this convention as rock stars,” percussion director Emily Tannert said. “They get to wear a “Performer” badge, share the stage with UT professor and world-renowned marimbist, Dr. Tom Burritt, play three world premiers – hopefully to a packed and appreciative audience – and experience all the wonders of PASIC.”

The ensemble rehearsed before and after school a few times a week, came in on holidays, and took a lot of their personal time to work on the difficult music on their own.

“I think many people, especially those who aren’t musicians, can’t quite relate to a contest where an audience can’t necessarily see the direct head-to-head competition.” Tannert said. “But in this case, the recordings submitted by the various ensembles were blind-judged, and the judges did actually give scores according to specific criteria. They were completely subjective, not just someone’s opinion. There were specific elements that the best percussionists in the world were listening for and evaluating.”

Some of the members of the ensemble are now ineligible because they are in high school. However, Rouse High School percussion ensemble members have the option to join them on their trip in November.

“I think it’s important for us as musicians to remember that while our day to day doings in our own band halls may vary, we have the same passion and share many common experiences,“ Tannert said. “It’s nice to be able to reunite this group that won this incredible award and enable them to have this experience together.”