It was a tough performance for the Olentangy Liberty Winterline percussion drum line at the Winter Guard International (WGI) Dayton Percussion Prelim. The event held at Kettering Fairmont High School in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, March 18, 2023 showcased multiple drumlines from around the area.
Despite their impressive performance of “The Dying of the Light,” technical problems with their audio equipment caused a delay and resulted in a penalty of 4.35 points. This caused them to drop from 3rd to 7th place with a score of 82.6757, which prevented them from moving on to the finals.
Looking past the setback, Jack Hamburger, Tenor Player for the Olentangy Liberty Winterline, shared his thoughts on the show, stating “This year’s show is probably my favorite that I have performed in so far, the writing is super demanding and the concept is fun to perform.” He also expressed excitement for the upcoming state championship, saying “I’m super excited about getting ready for states, we’re in the final push for it and then after that, it’s just WGI worlds and the season is over. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a gold medal at states again, as we did last year, and finishing the show off.”
The idea behind the Olentangy Liberty Winterline show “The Dying of the Light” is the percussion section slowly succumbing to death as the color guard torments them. Throughout the first half of the show, they resist death until about halfway through, where they fall down to the ground and die for the ballad. During the ballad, the color guard becomes angels and helps them accept death and find peace with it. The show uses the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” to emphasize the idea of fighting against death or raging against the dying of the light.
Winterguard International (WGI) is indoor marching arts association that governs and produces regional championship events for the activities: color guard (known as winter guard), percussion ensembles, and small marching bands (known as winds). The competitive season for WGI usually runs from January through April.
Over 28 competitive percussion ensembles from high school and community-based groups participated in the event on Saturday.
The Scholastic Marching A class scores and placements were announced as follows:
- Bellbrook HS (Bellbrook, OH) 89.950
- Mars Area HS (Mars, PA) 87.700
- Beavercreek HS (Beavercreek, OH) 86.775
- Kings HS (Kings Mills, OH) 85.150
- Victor HS (Victor, NY) 84.800
- North Allegheny HS (Wexford, PA) 82.800
- Olentangy Liberty HS (Powell, OH) 82.675
- Thomas Worthington HS (Worthington, OH) 80.325
- Wapakoneta HS (Wapakoneta, OH) 77.900
- Lebanon HS (Lebanon, OH) 77.650
- St. Clairsville HS (St. Clairsville, OH) 76.300
- Kaneland HS (Maple Park, IL) 73.800
The Olentangy Liberty Winterline percussion drum line is now preparing for their last stop at The Ohio Indoor Performance Association (OIPA) Percussion & Winds Championships on April 2, 2023, at Wapakoneta High School. The event will have a general admission fee of $15, and children aged 6 and under can attend for free.
The Olentangy High School Winter Guard, and the Delaware Hayes Winter Guard are expecting to be preforming the day before on April 1, 2023 at the same venue.
For more information about the Ohio Indoor Performance Association, please visit their website at https://ohiocircuit.org/percussion-championships.html.