The Liberty University Indoor Drumline, known for fueling the excitement at basketball games with the “Thunder on the Mountain” halftime show and performing at various campus events is holding auditions Nov. 15-16 at 6 p.m. in the School of Music.
The Indoor Drumline invites students to use and develop the skills they learned in high school drumline at the next level of performance in a Christian environment with a world-class staff.
The drumline includes students across campus from different majors and gives them a chance to grow in their skills by performing in a five-to-six-minute halftime routine with complex drills and exciting music, without sacrificing the time and money required to participate in a competitive line. Since it is a noncompetitive indoor drumline, it allows more flexibility and freedom to push the boundaries of what is possible in the marching percussion activity.
“We want to equip students with a very high-quality and truly cutting-edge indoor drumline experience that adds massive energy to the gameday environment, right here on campus without having to sacrifice their grades and all their free time traveling and rehearsing,” Indoor Drumline Program Director Joshua Detwiler said.
Liberty’s indoor drumline holds auditions for each of the four main instruments: snare drum, tenor drums, bass drum, and cymbals.
Junior Ruthann Fogal, a vibraphone player in the marching band, is planning on auditioning for bass drum. She said that she is prepared for the challenge and spoke highly of her instructor Josh Inabinett, an accomplished veteran performer and technician of the group.
The Indoor Drumline rehearses once a week, with their number one goal being to entertain the student body and Liberty Athletics fans alongside the cheer and dance teams in the Liberty Arena.
“I feel like Detwiler has picked it up and gone with it,” Fogal said. “He’s done a lot with the shows, and I feel like they are getting a lot better, progressively.”
Detwiler creates the music for the shows. Guy Mavinga, Jay Harris, Inabinett and Micah Elder also assist with instruction, running rehearsals, and creating the various visuals and choreography the drumline performs during the “Thunder on the Mountain” halftime show.
For this basketball season, Detwiler is hoping to push the boundaries of performance and use the full potential of the arena. Personally, he is looking forward to the energy boost that happens in the arena when the drumline takes the floor and giving the glory of the performances to God as an act of worship.
He said that the ensemble performs firstly for an audience of One, as an act of worship to the Lord, and he loves helping equip the students to worship the Lord through their excellence in marching percussion.
“We want to produce excellent percussionists and educators who love Jesus and are equipped to teach and compete at the highest level,” Detwiler said.
This year’s “Thunder on the Mountain” routine will be performed in the Liberty Arena during halftime at the basketball games on February 7, 12, 14, 21, 28, and March 5. Any interested students should reach out to Josh Detwiler at jmdetwiler@liberty.edu for more information.
Thompson is a feature writer for the Liberty Champion.