Albany team a world-class act
High school percussion ensemble finalists in international contest
Passion for your craft can move mountains, something the Albany High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble realized this spring, when despite closed schools, social dis tancing and virtual performances, they went on to become world finalists in the Winter Guard International indoor percussion championship.
“Luckily, we were able to have a season this year,” senior Polina Cassella said. “And it’s been such an amazing experience with … and it’s been great to see everyone again. That was just the highlight of my senior year.”
does a percussion ensemble do exactly? According to Mark Sanford, Albany High’s indoor percussion instructor, the art form is a combination of marching band, drum line and musical theater.
“We design a show and a story to put on a gym floor,” Sanford said. “And we tell a story through music and through dance, and often with voice overs. This year we have
drums playing, we have marimbas, vibes, all of those kinds of percussion instruments happening,”
WGI Sport of the Arts is an international non-profit youth organization that organizes indoor color guard, percussion and winds competitions. It also acts as the governing body for the indoor color guard, percussion and winds activities. WGI calls its activities ‘the Sport of the Arts’ because, according to them, it brings music to life through performance in a competitive format.
They organize a network of regional contests in the U.S., Canada and Europe, which culminate in an annual International Championship. This year’s championship was held virtually, with more than 16,000 participants at the Sport of the Arts World Championships over the past two weeks.
“When WGI announced that they would be doing everything virtually,” Sanford said, “we decided that the safest thing for our kids, and the ensemble in general, would be to go just straight to WGI and get tapes and recordings to them. They would then provide us feedback from some of the best judges and instructors in the world, on how to improve our kids how to improve our performances.”
According to Sanford, this year’s virtual format involved a preliminary round where everyone could participate, and if the team ranked above 50 percent they moved onto the semi-finals and then the finals. Due to the pandemic, the organization decided not to conduct finals with rankings, which made being a finalist the topmost rank, internationally.
“I know a lot of really good people, and a lot of good students, and a lot of good directors and instructors that have never even gotten close to semi-finals,” Sanford said. “So, we were pretty happy that we made semifinals. And then the following week, as we put in another video, and it was judged again, we were deemed within the top 10 to be moved on to world finals.”
Through the pandemic, indoor percussion has gone from being an extra-curricular activity to being an outlet and source of emotional support at Albany High. Sarah Bearden, a senior at who plays the synthesizer for the ensemble, recalled the panic she and her peers felt last year when the shutdown was first announced.
“We were all in school, when we got the email from Mark that everything’s going to be shut down,” Bearden said. “And like I remember everyone was like, we’re not going to see each other for so long. And we can’t finish our season.”
Jay Thomas, a sophomore, said he felt the same way. “It’s been an outlet for all of us, especially going to camps and stuff. It feels like a family after a while, and with the pandemic and having everything shut down, I was kind of wary of what was going to happen with the arts.”
Once the team knew that they could continue, the next concern was finding a safe way to practice. That the 2020 season was canceled was a letdown for the students, which made Sanford and his team even more determined to ensure that there was a 2021 season, even if they didn’t compete.
“At the very least two of our staff are at risk, myself included,” Sanford said. “We really had to go extra above and beyond. But actually hearing the kids say that they wanted to continue, validated the decision. We said, all right, we’re gonna sit down, we’re gonna try to make this happen.”
The team was moved out of their high school gym, where they normally practiced and into the Tony Clement Center for Education building on Elk Street in Albany. They practiced in the gym there, making sure to keep space between them and sanitized all equipment, not even sharing something as simple as a mallet, and going out of their way to plan a performance around safety protocols.
While becoming world finalists has been a highlight of the 2021 season for the team, being a part of the ensemble means more than just competing. The team is a safe space for everyone, a place where they feel comfortable. Sophomore Zoe Silvestri missed not just the process of practice and performance, but also things as simple as the bus rides the team took to go to other competitions.
“If you go on a bus ride with us, I’m sure we’ll be best friends by the time we get off,” Silvestri said. “I just hope that in my next two years we can definitely get back to that. Because we really are just such good friends, we’d be on the bus for like four hours and we just don’t stop talking.”
“I’ve been part of this specific program for four years now,” Casssella said. “And right from the beginning, I always felt a real connection with everyone involved with it. Last year, when COVID -19 hit, I was really afraid of not being able to come back. Especially for my senior year, that would have been really unfortunate.”
Bearden believes that this year has made them a lot stronger and closer, and becoming world finalists has been just a cherry on top.
“I’ve been involved in the marching band for a few years now and me and my parents really value this program,” Bearden said.
“We value the arts in Albany. And I think what’s really meaningful to me is knowing that the people who are around me are people who want to be here and are actively choosing to be in my space and in my community.”