The state of Pennsylvania became a little smaller last weekend for two schools. Students from Leechburg Area High School traveled across the state to meet with students from Twin Valley High School for a few days. Leechburg is a school district near Pittsburgh. The purpose of their visit was to share music with one another.
The Leechburg group arrived on Thursday, March 26, and stayed until Saturday morning. They stayed in the homes of Twin Valley students at night, and learned about Taiko Percussion by day. Both groups traveled to Kutztown University Thursday evening to see the San Jose Taiko Percussion Ensemble perform, and returned the following day for Master Classes with San Jose Taiko members. Twin Valley and Leechburg High School both have a Taiko Percussion Ensemble, and they gave a joint concert at Twin Valley High School Friday evening. The concert featured each group individually, and concluded with two combined numbers.
Taiko percussion groups at the high school level seem to be rare. To the best of their knowledge, these two directors think they have the only two high school Taiko groups within the state of Pennsylvania. The directors met one year ago at the state music convention in Hershey and together they worked out the details for the exchange. Twin Valley students were to travel to Leechburg earlier in March, however the weather did not cooperate and they were unable to go. Their trip will hopefully be rescheduled for next year.
If you missed the concert, you can still catch the Twin Valley Taiko Ensemble at the Pops Concert on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
