Cascades Announce 2010 Percussion Co-Caption Heads

The Cascades is excited to announce that Ronnie LaGrone will be joining the Cascades for the 2010 season as the Percussion Co-Caption Head. He will be sharing the duties with Chris Grant who is returning from last season. Ron has served as percussion arranger and caption head for the Colt Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps from Dubuque, IA from 2006 to the present. He served in the capacities of consultant, percussion arranger, and caption head of percussion with the award-winning Westview High School Percussion Ensemble (5th place in scholastic A division at the 2007 WGI Finals) and the award-winning Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps from 2003-2005 (2004 Division 3 Champions). He has also worked with groups such as Grenada High School, Tupelo High School, Vicksburg High School, Southridge High School, the University of Mississippi Drumline, The Northern Lights Summer Marching Band and Oregon State University Percussion. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1995 from the University of Mississippi where he majored in Percussion Performance and attended the University of Oregon Graduate School for further studies in music education and percussion performance. Ron plays professionally in the Portland metro area and is the Director of Bands at Banks High School in Banks, OR. He is a REMO, PROMARK, Dynasty, and Latin Percussion artist.

The Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps is the only Drum Corps International World Class Corps serving the Pacific Northwest. Members from all parts of the Northwest and other regions come together each year to produce one of the most elite musical marching groups in the country. The Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps is the longest surviving corps in the Pacific Northwest originating back in 1957 as the Seattle Thunderbirds and are the only Northwest corps to ever make finals at the DCI World Championships when they entered the field in Madison, Wisconsin in 2002. The corps is sponsored by the Northwest Youth Music Association (NYMA) which encourages development of life-long skills in Northwest youth by supporting musical and performing arts activities in collaboration with community and educational organizations. NYMA is also the proud sponsor of Brass Attack, and the DCI Portland Summer Games.