It all started with a Facebook plea from Motor City Percussion asking for help finding a rehearsal space large enough for their drumline to practice. Director of Band at Reading High School Joshua Sholler responded online that he knew a place “an hour and 40 minutes [away] in good ole’ Reading, MI.”
This is how a nationally-ranking drumline came to practice and perform at the high school in Reading, Mich., a city about 20 minutes from Hillsdale.
Motor City Percussion is an independent winter percussion ensemble from Wayne county which competes throughout Michigan and the Midwest. It’s 38 members range from high school to college-aged students from the Detroit area. The drumline competes in two different circuits, the Michigan Color Guard Circuit, which competes with other drumlines in Michigan, and the Winter Guard International, which attracts competitors from more than 50 other groups throughout the country. Last year, MCP placed within the top ten at the WGI competitions in Dayton, Ohio.
Sholler graduated from Michigan State University in 2012. He was part of the College of Music and the Spartan marching band at MSU, where he played the trombone. This is now his second year as the director of band at Reading High School.
“I’ve known quite a few of the staff members in that drumline since high school, and we have a really good connection,” Sholler said. He also said he has known the co-director of MCP, Wesley Noeyack, the longest.
Sholler said members of the drumlines were willing to travel far for practice space because large facilities are both hard to find and expensive in Wayne county.
MCP is currently preparing for the WGI Regionals, which will take place on March 8 in Dayton, Ohio.
The drumline practiced through the whole weekend, sleeping on the gym floor and taking breaks only for meals. The event was free to students and five dollars for adults. Sholler said he expected a large turnout.
“I’m expecting at least the front side of the gym to fill up quickly,” he said.
The drumline performed the routine they are working on for the competition and also gave an introduction to the winter drumline.
Hillsdale sophomore Kristin Dau is a graduate of Reading High School, where she participated in the band program. She has played the clarinet since fifth grade and stuck with it through high school.
Dau said that she became familiar with MCP through Sholler, whom she knew through high school band.
“Over the summer he asked me to help teach his marching band camp,” she said. “I agreed and either the two of us or the high school students themselves have been in touch ever since.”
Dau said that she has never seen an MCP show but has always loved seeing marching bands and drumlines perform. The chance for the small high school to host the drumline is an opportunity that many there will never have again, Dau said.
The drumline’s 2014 show, titled “Heroes,” portrays the life and struggle of a superhero to overcome adversity.
“Reading is a very small town, and like many other towns, a lot of the students grow up there and raise their own kids there. I know some students who have never left the state of Michigan. Seeing them have the opportunity to witness such an event and realize how far in life you can get with music if you stick with it is amazing.”
