By Scott McCoy

Indianapolis, Ind., August 30, 2011 -- As a new challenge in 2011 for the Star United Drum & Bugle Corps, a small group of dedicated percussionists (eh, drummers... who are we kidding?) are competing in the Membrane Percussion Ensemble category at the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Individual & Ensemble competition this Friday, September 2nd in Rochester, NY at 7:10 PM. This is just one of many venues during the evening's "I&E" festivities, culminating in the headline event where the five-time reigning Mini Corps champion, Star United, will defend their title against a strong field of fellow mini corps.

The Membrane Percussion Ensemble category allows up to 12 members playing on membrane percussion instruments (a.k.a. "drums") playing a piece ranging from two to four minutes in length. The Star United percussion ensemble consists of nine members playing an original piece written specifically for the ensemble by Scott McCoy. All three of the Star United Mini Corps percussionists are in the group as well as several Star of Indiana alumni who were eager to keep drumming after last year's Star Alumni Corps experience. We're sure recruiting enthusiasm stemmed from the fact the ensemble's drums are exclusively on stands which makes push-ups much easier due to not having to take the drum on and off.

 

The ensemble would like to thank our sponsors Evans Drumheads and Innovative Percussion for their support of our new endeavor. Special thanks to Music City Legend Drum & Bugle Corps for graciously letting us borrow their battery percussion instruments, helping us tremendously in preparation and performance. And last but not least, a big thank you to Bob Dubinski for his continued mentoring and willingness to help this little rag-tag group of misfits...er, drummers.

Star United Percussion Ensemble Roster:

Snares
Sean Levy
Scott Walker
Scott McCoy

Tenors
Darold Giles
Michael Krekeler

Bass Drums
Penny Wyatt
Ron Dawson
Chris Adkins
Matt Grieser
 

 

About Star United

Indianapolis-based Star United is a brass and percussion performance ensemble composed primarily of alums of the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps, Brass Theater, and Blast!.

Formed in 2006, Star United competes with other "mini corps" ensembles located throughout North America at the Drum Corps Associates' (DCA) national championships each Labor Day Weekend in Rochester, New York. To date, Star United has been named the national championship corps in each of its five years of existence. The corps will attempt to defend its title again on September 2, 2011.

Star United would not exist without the support of its coaching team, Bill Cook, Cook Group, and sponsors such as Innovative Percussion, Chops Percussion, Evans Drum Heads, Pearl Drums, and ChopsSaver.

Star United is also particularly grateful to its fellow Star of Indiana alums for all of the support the organization has provided the mini corps. The Madison Scouts, Carmel High School (Carmel, Indiana) and Victor High School (Victor, New York) also deserve special recognition for their willingness to share resources to assist the corps in preparing and performing.