So now that the 2024 championships for percussion has now passed by, let’s admire how much effort the ensemble has put in before they go to their final performance. So first of all at the beginning of the season we had a majority of people come back to indoor percussion to either keep on performing and strive to be the best and others striving to be the best as well but to also finish their final season of a Scholastic indoor group. Especially now that we were such a great group these seniors wanted to finish their season off with a bang.
Now, at first the group seemed to struggle since they had many new people join the program but also many switched instruments to see what exactly they would prefer within the ensemble. Yet gladly there were never any issues. Now both directors for the independent group Ethyn Corfield and Erin Blake always allowed the students to try a different instrument and always matched them with what the students were best at, bringing all of that students’ talent out no matter what the instrument was. Yet no matter which section these students joined there would always be a challenge. Because if a student joined the battery A.K.A drumline they would have to learn a new form of marching since some of our performers came from wind instruments which is nowhere near the same as drumline. But for Pit A.K.A Front Ensemble they would have to learn how to play at fast tempos along with them having more than 15 notes on a board and having everything memorized.
no matter how talented any section was there were always struggles but with help of the technicians they had and how quickly they absorbed the knowledge tossed at them, they adjusted quickly and became better instantly. With all the knowledge they gain paying off at competitions with the group placing top 3 in their season 3 times including championships preliminaries. Also since they made it to WGI Finals for their debut, they are really coming out to the world telling every viewer that Agua Fria has arrived, officially putting our name out there getting the attention of many people.
But before Championships were to occur they had a friends and family night where they performed their show to the home crowd before the Champs and they were all filled with joy once they saw our performance soon after getting all the pictures they wanted and giving some of their final thoughts of their season before they finally closed it.
Soon once the day for Championships came they were all nervous yet ready to either have their last performance or advance to the second round and have one more run in them left to go. Although there were just a slight amount of issues but they were all fixed instantly along with the spectators that came to watch them warm up were enjoying all that they put up for Championships being serious yet most importantly having fun the whole time because if you’re not having fun doing what you enjoy the most then what’s the point.
Now since they had finished warming up they went to perform but with all of them being mentally prepared to perform but at the same time thinking ahead on what they need to focus on to aim for a spot in the final round. Also with the gym stands there were hundreds of spectators looming over them seeming to get higher and higher but yet all the performers remained calm and ensured to not be stressed about this. Soon after their performance they didn’t have much time to get over to their trailer so as soon as they put everything down they went back to the gym immediately to see if they had advanced to finals. Furthermore, there were 3 different sections of the preliminaries with each sections having talented groups it was time for our section with the stress of everyone building up as each number going down hoping that they made it to finals and as soon as 3rd place was called they announced Agua Fria meaning they made it to finals and once they realize that the group screams for joy since in their previous years they have yet to make it into WGAZ Finals with this being the groups first time.
Therefore, later in the day the group took a long break and made sure to eat for then they won’t be exhausted for their second run with them running the same sequence and warming up with a bigger crowd and performing with a bigger crowd although there was something different the intention of their performance before it was advancing to finals but now their second run was full of joy and had the intention to have the most fun and have the best run of their lives which they absolutely did. Soon with all the professional groups done and the wind groups it was time for full retreat to get the final results of everything they’ve been working for finishing their season with being top 10 in Arizona and accepting it with honor although next year they’ll be aiming for even higher goals aiming to surpass their limits once again.
Now with being able to compete against such strong schools like Horizon, Millennium, and buckeye was such an honor for this group of kids for they knew what they were getting into and pulled off such amazing results for this season. Finishing with 3 podium placements and being top 10 in the state such a remarkable way to put an end to the season. Congratulations to the Agua Fria High Indoor percussion Program! We can’t wait for the show next year!