Avon High Drum Line Wins State Title

Drum Line percussion group captured its first Ohio Indoor Performance State Championship last weekend.

The group has been in existence since 2005, said director Bryan Hoersten. Marching band members came back from competitions and told of the drum lines they saw, and suggested that Avon start one.

"What's impressive is that, out of the 17 members, only three of them started out in music on drums," he said.

The other members came from playing other instruments in Avon High's music program, Hoersten said. Some have only been playing percussion since the start of the school year when they joined drum line.

"Not only do they have to learn this new instrument," Hoersten said, "but they have to do it while learning a complicated performance."

The group's winning performance, The Abyss, is about five minutes long and requires several members to move around a lot while carrying their drums.