Friends of Music Helps Fund New Drums for Martinsburg High School Band | Journal-news

MARTINSBURG — Friends of Music recently awarded Martinsburg High School a $500 grant to help purchase new drums for its marching band.

The school’s band director, Casie Rogers Adams, applied for the grant as part of a successful effort to raise money from the community to replace all of the current drum line drummers, who were 14 years old and desperately needed to be replaced.

This effort was successful and the school has now purchased a full set of Pearl Championship marching drums.

The Friends grant covered the cost of a snare drum.

“The Martinsburg High School Bulldog Band is grateful to receive the Friends of Music grant,” Adams said. “(Our new) drums will be used for the first time this summer for our drumming and music camp, as well as throughout the season for football games, competitions and other community performances. The students and I We are extremely excited about our new percussion equipment and additions to the Bulldog Band program.”

The Friends grant is part of an ongoing Friends grant program to support music education in schools in Berkeley and Jefferson counties. The organization’s grants are usually for musical instruments and supplies not covered by regular school budgets. The Friends also provide scholarships to talented local students pursuing studies in music.

The Friends of Music organization is a non-profit group based in Shepherdstown founded in 1999 to support and promote musical excellence. It supports the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra, the only professional classical music orchestra in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and one of only three such orchestras in the state. For more information on Friends, visit www.friendswv.org.