Mount Lebanon Percussion - History

History

Mount Lebanon Percussion was created in the fall of 1985, when a small group of students played Baja at the Winter Band concert. The first ensemble consisted of 15 students and one director, Mr. Minnotte. In 1987, the program performed its first evening concert, sharing the stage with band soloists. The following year, Mount Lebanon Percussion presented its initial Evening of Percussion concert series, held over Memorial Day weekend.

The Holiday Bells, Mallets and Drums Series was added in December 1996. The series featured selections from the holiday season, and performed not only in Mount Lebanon, but across the Western Pennsylvania area. Moreover, the fall percussion ensemble was invited to be the house band for the KDKA-TV Children's Hospital Free Care Fund Telethon; the ensemble continues to provide live music for this television event.

Since its conception, the program has continually increased the degree of difficulty of its music. In 1991, the first Grade 4 piece, Blues and Cakewalk by Joshua Missal, was performed (percussion music is graded on a scale from 1-6). Seven years later, the Senior High ensemble performed Tom Gauger's Portico, its first Grade 5 selection. By 2003, the Senior High ensemble was performing all Grade 5 and 5+ music, with its first Grade 6 piece, Stained Glass by David Gillingham, being performed the previous year. Currently, Mount Lebanon Percussion performs numerous Grade 5 & 6 selections at its Evening of Percussion concert series, including works from Eric Ewazen, Christopher Rousse, Michael Hennagin, Nathan Daughtrey and Lynn Glassock.

In 2002, Mount Lebanon Percussion was selected to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference, held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The group returned to the conference, held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 2005. The following year, Mount Lebanon Percussion was honored by The MENC: The National Association for Music Education as the only percussion ensemble in the nation selected to perform at their biannual conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The ensemble traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana in 2007 for the National Percussion Festival which is affiliated with Bands of America/Music for All. The group then returned to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference, held in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 2008. For the year 2009 the ensemble will be making another trip to Indianapolis, Indiana for their second appearance at the National Percussion Festival.

Currently, the percussion program is a part of the award-winning Mount Lebanon School District Fine Arts Department. The program continues to hold its Evening of Percussion and Holiday Bells, Mallets and Drums Series every year, as well as additional local, regional, and national performances.