HARVEST, Ala. (WHNT) — Sparkman High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble is suiting up for an international competition where they’ll perform against hundreds of bands from around the world.
Senior Snare Drum Percussionist Tyler Ashcraft said Sparkman is the only band from Alabama represented at the Winter Guard International Championships, or WGI. He said they’ve been practicing nearly every day since November 2024.
“It’s a long process and it starts slow and then it starts going by so fast,” he said. “Once you’re here, it’s like, how was it five months? It doesn’t feel like it.”
This is the fourth time Sparkman High School has qualified for the WGI Championships. This year, their performance is called “In Pieces” and involves dancing, props and costume changes that accompany an arrangement of songs. Percussion Director Pierson Gilreath said the theme was a nod to the ensemble’s history.
“The idea is that we start in this perfect world and then something causes a fracture in what we once knew,” he said. “We spend the whole show trying to pick up the pieces and create and recreate what we had before, before finally realizing that we can create something new and beautiful out of the broken.”
Gilreath said this is Sparkman’s fourth time qualifying for WGI and this year, they hope their hard work pays off with an award. Regardless of the outcome, Senior Bridgette McCormick, who plays the marimba, said her experience with the ensemble has changed her life.
“We’re literally here every day,” she said. “It has just taught me so many lessons and when you go to this world championship, it’s literally a life changing thing and it teaches you so many life lessons like hard work, commitment.”
The team leaves for Dayton, Ohio for the WGI championships Wednesday and they will compete Thursday and Friday. If they qualify for final rounds, they will perform Saturday.
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