Indoor Percussion continues success

BY JUSTINA ADDICE 
WEST MILFORD — In 1995, John Calabrese, current percussion instructor at West Milford High School, created the indoor percussion group. Over the years, this group has grown in numbers, competed in countless competitions, and came home with many trophies, including two first place championship trophies in 2015 and 2016.
This year’s show was entitled “Uprising: Voice of the People,” with the idea being based around Les Miserables and exploring the ability to come together as a group.
“Each year the staff work together and design the show around a song, theme, or color,” Calabrese explained.
They collectively decided on the theme of uprising and from there, the 2017 indoor show was born.
Arranged by Andrew Dessler and Michel Monacelli, the show featured the musical selections of "Vox Populi" by Thirty Second to Mars, "Battle Cry of Freedom" by George Frederick Root, and "La Marseillaise" by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, as well as "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Miserables, and "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten.
This diverse selection of songs, along with the battery arrangement by Calabrese, earned this group the second place trophy in the 2017 US Band Division Championships.
Today's Indoor PercussionToday, there are 40 members, with 19 in the battery, 17 in the pit, and the rest making up the A-team, a group of students that helps make sure the show runs smoothly.
From January to April, this talented group of students meets two or three days during the week and every Saturday to practice. Each practice is at least two and a half hours long and begins with group stretches, followed by a run through the halls of the school before they even pick up their instruments. Then, depending on the day, it's onto either sectionals — where each section breaks off to practice by themselves — or straight into group practice in the caféteria.
A majority, if not all, of those in indoor percussion also participate in marching band during the fall, with a two or three month break in between the two activities. Through hard work and dedication, they find a way to keep up their grades, practice both at rehearsals and at home, and perform award-winning shows each year.       
“Indoor percussion has not only allowed me to improve as a musician, but as a person too,” senior and Drum Sergeant Marc Gigliuto commented. “We have brought ourselves to a new level of performance and quality, and I’ve grown to love competing and getting the opportunity to do it with friends. The past four years have gone by so fast, but the memories will last forever.”
Indoor percussion is more than just a group of students working toward a goal, it has a family that helps each other grow and improve in their skills, said many of the members.
In addition to Calabrese, Assistant Director Michael Monacelli, Visual Designer Matthew Leitner, staff members Matthew Filipek, William Tierney, Jay Van Dyke, and Lindsay Walsh, and, of course, the group of student musicians, made it all possible.