ABODA Music Festival Success

On Thursday 17 August the Norwood International High School Drum Corps participated in the prestigious ABODA Music Festival. This annual event brings over 3,000 students from 38 schools across the state to Westminster School to perform over 3 days. NIHS was allotted a timeslot on the first day.

For the NIHS Drum Corps, it was a difficult start to the year as there were many interruptions to the rehearsals. The students persevered, working hard for the last few weeks in preparation for the event. This included our regular rehearsals and extra rehearsals during lunchtime and afterschool leading up to the competition.

Upon arrival, the event organisers communicated that one school didn’t arrive and our timeslot had been moved forward, meaning that the students were unable to use their 15-20 minute warm-up and run through time. Although the students did not have this time, they were confident that they would be fine.

The onstage performance was spectacular, and despite the lack of warm-up, the students played with confidence, intensity, attention to detail and a high level of musicality. The students really enjoyed their time onstage and performing in front of an audience. For the group, this was the first performance in front of an audience since 2020.

Students had the privilege to have world-renowned percussionist Jim Bailey (Percussion Senior Lecturer and former Head of Percussion at the Elder Conservatorium of Music) as an adjudicator. After the performance, students were able to embrace some invaluable feedback from Jim for future performances.

The Norwood International High School Drum Corps Team finished the day on a high, winning a Bronze Category award. The team are hoping to further improve over the course of the year for a higher category award in 2023. The team are very pleased and proud!