As someone who has always held a strong and passionate connection with music, Norwin High School’s Taylor Provence recently had a dream come true upon getting into the drum corps—a competitive and higher-level marching band for percussion and bass instruments.
Provence says that they’ve wanted to do drum corps from the moment they learned about it as a freshman.
“I always knew since I was a freshman that four years of marching band in high school wouldn’t be enough,” Provence explained. “I’d need something more challenging.”
And challenging it would be. Over the past four years, Provence has worked hard for their chance to audition and ultimately be accepted for drum corps. This process included learning an entirely new instrument after primarily playing the saxophone for seven years.
“At first, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do drum corps because I played a woodwind instrument, but instead of giving up, I decided to learn a brass instrument instead.”
Now, Provence plays the baritone horn and has been doing so for three years after having taken lessons since their freshman year in an ultimate strive to get into a drum corp.
Though Drum Corps is an international organization (Drum Corps International), there are individual corps all across the U.S. and Canada that operate under it. Before being accepted into their current corp, Provence says that they have auditioned for several before.
“I went to an in-person audition for the Bluecoats, which is a world-class corps,” said Provence. “So I went mostly for the learning experience rather than actually expecting a contract.”
Other auditions that Provence did were online which required them to submit videos of their marching and playing.
“To prepare for these auditions, I practiced the material out of the audition packet for each individual corps, and I practiced my marching on the high school practice field.”
Provence stated that they also took lessons for baritone and that their instructor helped them prepare for the auditions.
The third (and final) drum corps that Provence auditioned for is the one that ended up offering them a contract immediately—they are now an official member!
Music is a huge part of Provence’s life, so much so that they plan to go to college this fall for music education.
“I have always loved being a musician, and I will always love being a musician,” Provence included. “So much so that I chose a career in it where I get to guide younger musicians and share my love of music with them.”
Provence is a dedicated and talented musician with their musical journey starting as a toddler when they began piano lessons. Beyond that, they also played the violin and the clarinet.
With years of musical experience under their belt and having learned an entirely new instrument solely for drum corps, Provence is undoubtedly excited to take part in the corps this summer in Utah.
To help fund their drum corps tuition, Provence has a GoFundMe set up where anyone can donate money and support the furthering of their musical journey!
To donate to Provence’s GoFundMe, click the following link: https://gofund.me/767a37b3
