138 Years of Combined Service...and Counting
The Concord Band percussion section— and the percussion sections of large instrumental ensembles of all kinds—may be described in terms of extremes. At one time or another, percussionists are responsible for gathering hundreds of different combinations of pitched and unpitched instruments and beaters. As most drummers will tell you, the most difficult problem they usually face is not in playing their parts, but in setting up and moving between their instruments as quickly as necessary when the section has a limited number of players. | ||
| (l to r): Dan Diamond (snare drum), Ken Troup (mallets), Neil Tischler (drum set, tympani), Buck Grace (bass drum, cymbals), Steve Polit (tympani, mallets). |
The Concord Band’s five percussionists, with tenures of 39, 38, 37, 14 and 10 years, rank 3rd, 4th and 5th longest among all active Band members. They are very well educated—with two doctorates and a handful of other advanced degrees among them. Though they may wish it were otherwise, they are also probably the oldest section of the Band.
