Local Lafourche high schools win percussion honors

At the annual Percussion Circuit Competition last weekend, E.D. White Catholic High School won the Scholastic Open Class division, while Thibodaux High School placed third in the same division.

E.D. White and Thibodaux High were among several schools vying for top percussion honors at the Thibodaux Civic Center.

After a four-year hiatus, Thibodaux High returned to competition for this weekend’s showdown.

Associate Band Director Joel Burt said in past years the school didn’t have the funds budgeted to compete.

Though the school still doesn’t have a budget for competition, a lot of parents, businesses and organizations donated the funds and materials students needed to make their comeback a memorable one, Burt said.

“We are excited about competing again. This was a great opportunity for the youths to come together and spend time learning the different aspects of music,” Thibodaux High band director Jason Lyons said. “We thank all the people that were instrumental in getting us to the competition.”

The 26-piece percussion team worked for three months prior to the competition, brewing an illness that would take over the competition and win the judges over.

Thibodaux’s upbeat performance – titled “Virus” – tells a story about a deadly outbreak that takes over the band members. The drumline, led by senior Stanley Reed, tries to fight off the virus. The five-minute show ends with the containment of the virus.

“It’s about struggling to overcome anything, whether it’s a virus or something that life throws at you,” Burt said. “We just wanted to be expressive and to explore the realms of music.”

Thibodaux’s percussion instructors Jon Kelpsch and Mike Prejean and the percussionists took home a bronze medal in the Scholastic 8 division of the competition.

E.D. White had 29 percussionists competing in the intermediate skills competition Saturday.

The team’s instructor, Keith Ledet, with help of band director Tim Robichaux, began practicing with the percussionists in mid-December.

The Cardinal band gave the judges a high-energy performance about the creation of life.

“The show is about the development of a baby from womb to birth from the first, second and third trimester to birth and over the lifetime of a child,” Ledet said. “The message we will convey is the cycle of life.”

E.D. White won this competition last year in Hammond. The band competes in nearly seven similar events each year.

After a four-year hiatus, Thibodaux High School’s percussion line returned to compete in the annual Louisiana Percussion Circuit at the Thibodaux Civic Center Saturday. Thibodaux High’s team won a bronze medal in the Scholastic Open Class competition for their performance titled “Virus.” * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN