West Ranch Percussion Ensemble Wins World Championship

 The 24 members of the West Ranch High School Percussion Ensemble will forever be known as world champions as they took home the top prize at the Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championships in Dayton, Ohio, this past weekend.
Nineteen students, led by West Ranch Director of Instrumental Music, Jason Marshall, and percussion Instructors Julio Diaz, Andrew Ramirez, Phil Idel and Hyun Lee, represented one of hundreds of schools from across the country to compete in the two-day event in six different divisions. West Ranch won in the Scholastic Concert Percussion A Division with their show “Soldiers of Aquarius.”
“I’m so proud of the percussion students from West Ranch,” Marshall said. “It just shows that hard work and dedication really does payoff. These students put in hundreds of hours a year in perfecting their craft. They practice during the summer, on weekends, and late into the night. I know that they all take immense pride in seeing that effort result in a World Championship.”
The members of the ensemble are: Reid Adamick, Tyler Adamick, Peyton Forth, Indigo Garcia, Michael Gaborno, Daniel Glass, Sarah Ho, Brian Knowles, Nicollette Orler, Danielle Nalangan, Chris Nott, Benny Oz, Kyle Pobanz, Shayne Pobanz, Thomas Reller, Jared Sotiangco, Grant Yamamoto, Ethan Yu and Isabel Zheng.
“As leader of the West Ranch Music Program, I would like to thank the entire Hart District, West Ranch Principal Mark Crawford, West Ranch Assistant. Principal Donna Manfredi, and the parents of West Ranch High School for supporting our music program and allowing us to participate in this event,” Marshall said. “Music is alive and well in the Hart District and I hope our success will encourage more students to participate in the arts and for more of our schools to go and compete at the national and world level.”