DID YOU KNOW?May 2017

In This Issue:• WGI• Concert Band Gold Rating• Sweet Night of Jazz• Indy 500 Parade• Fox 59

DCHS PercussionOur percussion group entered in Open Class once again and had a fantastic run in the prelims…however, a few unbelievable prop issues (that we have never had before) meant that our GE scores were not as high as they might have been. The group missed advancing to Semi Finals by .06 – that is not even a tenth of a point. Congrats to Josh Schneider and his staff on a great first season together!

Indoor WindsThis is the first time that we've ever taken a winds only group to WGI!! Congratulations to Dan Herrick and his staff on the BRONZE MEDAL in Open Class!!! We received a lot of compliments about how the group played and marched. The students worked hard all season and (like all groups) had some obstacles to overcome – but did so with a lot of class and dignity! WELL DONE!!!!

DCHS Makes History at WGI

Color GuardVarsity Guard enjoyed a top 5 finish at EVERY SHOW THIS YEAR and most notably at the STATE FINALS and WGI Bowling Green regional. The group then went to the World Championships and once again advanced out of the first round by placing 3rd in there round – where the field went from 145 to 60. The next cut was Semi-Finals – or going from 60 to 24. We missed the finals by just about 3 tenths of a point and landed in 26th place in the COUNTRY! OUR BEST PLACEMENT EVER IN WGI!! Congrats to Meghan Brackett and her staff!

What is WGI? WGI is the world's premier organization producing indoor color guard, percussion, and wind ensemble competitions. There were more than 12,000 participants at the this past championship held in Dayton, Ohio between April 20-23.

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Check us out on YouTubeClick these links for current as well as past performance

Gold Rating for DCHS Concert Band

Decatur Central's Concert Band received a Gold Rating for their stage performance and a Gold Rating in Sight Reading at the ISSMA State Qualifications on April 29th. The Wind Ensemble also earned a Gold Rating in stage performance and Silver in Sight Reading. Both bands did well and have improved a great deal over the spring. The Wind Ensemble entered in Group I with the Concert Band in Group III. We are very proud of the hard work that the students put into learning some very challenging music.

Indy 500 Parade DCHS Band has been invited to march in this year's Indy 500 Festival Parade. This parade is the 3rd largest in the nation and will be broadcast locally on Channel 13 and nationwide on NBC. For the parade, we've invited our graduating seniors to participate as the final performance of their high school career. We've also invited the incoming freshman to participate. May will be very busy as we brush up on our marching skills as well as getting freshman up-to-speed with a crash course in marching.

Don't forget to watch the band perform LIVE for FOX 59's Morning Show on Friday May 26th as part of the Indy 500 festivities.

Sweet Night of Jazz Our annual jazz event was held on May 2nd at the new Holiday Inn Express. A beautiful ballroom was supplied for us to perform in as well as some awesome music provided by DCHS Jazz Ensembles I and II. We also had wonderful desserts provide by Soulful Sweets' band mothers Missy Vidito and Brenda Buchanan. There was a silent auction with all money raised going to help the band. By the end of the night the ball room was standing room only! We're confident this event will become even larger in the years to come!