By Hayley Strahs

Courtesy L. Sinclair

As their seasons come to a close, winter guard and winter percussion are putting their all into the final few weeks of competition.

On Mar. 1, winter percussion attended Northern California Percussion Alliance’s (NCPA) American Canyon High School show, LGHS’s first percussion-only competition of the season. Senior and front ensemble section leader Brody Horwitz particularly enjoyed “seeing so many different schools and their interpretations of either songs or popular media.” Horwitz also noted the nearby Raising Cane’s Restaurant as a positive aspect of the competition. 

Having finished their show, The Golden Path, winter percussion spends their rehearsals refining small details like “tracking, which involves [moving their] feet to the music to solidify feet timing to make sure they can play the music in time,” according to bass technician Lucas Kornilov. In addition, percussion often splits into sections for “subs time” before they come together at the end to perform full runs and portions of the show.

On Mar. 8, LGHS winter guard attended Winter Guard International’s (WGI) Union City Regional at James Logan High School. Unlike previous competitions, students had the opportunity to watch both school-affiliated and independent ensembles from across northern California. After the competition, Junior Natasha Harnish remarked, “It was cool to see [other groups] perform.” With a score of 72.8, LGHS placed fifth out of 15 competitors in the Scholastic Regional A division during the preliminary round. The following weekend, on Mar. 15, LGHS percussion attended the percussion counterpart of the regional and placed third in prelims, scoring 68.5. Senior and new member Adam Younis described the competition as an “interesting, large, spacious environment to explore other shows and [meet] people from other schools.”

While percussion competed at WGI Union City, guard attended California Color Guard Circuit’s (CCGC) Dublin competition at Dublin High School. “Now that we’ve completed the show,” said sophomore Sam Ematrudo, “the energy [at rehearsal] is really focused. We’re trying to do the best we can at competitions.” Guard’s hard work did not go to waste: LGHS took first place in the Scholastic Regional AA division and received their highest score of the season.

CCGC Championships on Mar. 29 will conclude the winter guard and percussion seasons. At championships, every group in the circuit will perform in the final CCGC show of 2025. Junior Siya Gupte explained, “[Championships] is our last time ever performing this program together and spending the full day together watching shows. And then, we have a full retreat together.” Full retreat, a custom that honors the end of a season, involves every member of each guard lining up for the awards ceremony while fully decked out in glow stick jewelry. In contrast, percussion will have a swift transition between competitions: after performing at CCGC Championships, they will head to James Logan High School for another NCPA show.

However, the end of competition season does not equate to the end of winter guard and percussion. On Mar. 31, the ensembles, along with Raymond J Fisher Middle School’s winter guard, will perform one last run of their respective shows at Friends and Family Night in the large gym.