Clinton High School Band headed to international championship | Arts & Culture

CLINTON — The Clinton High School Band is having a phenomenal year.

In addition to a host of high ratings and wins at local and regional competition, the Indoor Percussion students will attend the Winter Guard International Percussion World Championships in Dayton, Ohio this April.

“This is the first time any ensemble in Clinton has attended an event of this magnitude,” said Band Director Mickey Mangum.

At the WGI Percussion World Championships, CHS will compete against hundreds of percussion ensembles from all over the world, Mangum said.

The trip to Ohio caps off a long list of successes for the band. This weekend, the CHS Wind Ensemble attended the Mississippi High School Activities Association state band evaluation at Pearl High School.

“The band was rated Superior by all three concert and sight-reading judges,” Mangum said. “This earned the band the prestigious Sweepstakes award for the third consecutive year.”

To receive a Sweepstakes award, a band must rate Superior from all judges all year long in all marching captions, concert and sight reading. A small percentage of bands earn this award each year.

Also on Saturday, the Clinton Black winter guard attended the Winter Guard International Atlanta regional competition. The guard finished in first place in Regional A class, winning the first WGI regional ever for the color guard program at CHS.

Upcoming events include the annual indoor percussion and color guard public exhibition held at the CHS Gym on March 30. Tickets for that event will be $5 and will be available at the door. Also, the Clinton Black and Red winter guards and Clinton Indoor Percussion competing in the Mississippi Indoor Association State Championships the nest day, March 31 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Band Program’s annual May concert will be on May 10th at the CHS Auditorium and is free to the public.

“Our band students have worked hard all year to prepare for these events and it’s great to see all that hard work paying off,” said Dr. Eddie Peasant, CHS principal. “I know they will represent us well at the Percussion World Championships next month.”

Winter Guard International Sport of the Arts, now in its 35th year, is a leading organization producing indoor color guard and percussion ensemble competitions. There were more than 36,000 participants at the regional level, and more than 11,000 participants at the Sport of the Arts World Championships this past April.

The Clinton Indoor Percussion Ensemble and Winter guards will be having a "Home Show" for the Clinton community on Friday, March 30th at 7:00 pm in the Clinton High School Gymnasium.  Tickets will be $5 and will be sold at the door.