Mars Hill College goes for Gold in musical competition

Mars Hill College has a long history of excellence in music.  This year, MHC students plan to take their musical abilities to the next level by competing for a World Championship title with North Carolina’s own Carolina Gold Drum and Bugle Corps. 

Carolina Gold is a member of Drum Corps Associates (DCA), an organization that hosts many Drum and Bugle Corps venues each summer across the U.S.A.  DCA holds its annual World Championships in late summer of each year.  This year, they will be held in Rochester, NY, where Carolina Gold took fourth place at Finals this past September.  MHC is proud to have a very healthy showing of its own music students who are serving as both educational staff and performing members of this prestigious organization. 

Among these students is Justin Mabry, Percussion Caption Head for the corps.  “We are very excited about the potential for this season and are looking forward to educating and inspiring our students while competing with other high-level organizations” says Mabry.  The teaching staff, MHC students Emory Hensley, Corey Denham, Tyler Honeycutt, Zach Vanderelzen and Brandon Coffey (former MHC student), are preparing for the long season ahead. Gold will hold rehearsals twice per month until the summer when they will rehearse and compete each week around the East Coast. 

Last year, MHC was able to supply the corps with five marching members and three educational staff members.  This was the highest showing of participants from any educational institution within Carolina Gold’s 2009 membership.  MHC students, Keegan Fidis, Mychael Shelton, Brad Moore, Corey Denham, and Charles Edwards, all marched in the Percussion Section of the corps.  “Gold gave me a very valuable life experience.  I learned the value of meticulous teamwork and saw the positive results of lots of long, hot hours of work” explains Moore.

Gold will be holding its annual Open House Dec. 12 in hopes of recruiting more members to make the upcoming season a success.

“We hope to build on the success that we experienced last year.  Our staff has taught together and played music together for a long time and we are very passionate about the experiences we give our students, so we are excited to get this season started” says Tyler Honeycutt, Battery Coordinator for the corps.