Support Nate’s dreams of Marching Band

Howdy! As many of you reading this know, my name is Nate Comiskey and I’m looking to raise money to fund my Indoor Percussion and Drum Corps dreams! A little background on me: I’m a senior at Bridgeland High School, and I am a cymbal player for the BHS indoor percussion ensemble. I’m also a tuba player and auditioning for the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps.

What the money goes to:

The cost to march for the indoor group this season is $2,400. The expenses go towards a custom uniform, equipment such as props and instruments, a trip to Dallas for a WGI Regional, as well as a trip to Dayton, Ohio for the WGI World Championships!

Now you may be wondering, what about the rest of the money?

I’m also auditioning for the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Sacramento, California. Drum Corps is the “professionals” of marching band, but you pay to be in instead of getting paid. They are a performing arts group that spends 77 days living together, with that being made up of 34 days of spring training and 47 days on the road, rehearsing a show to perform in 12 different states. You audition to join and have to go through 2 auditions for a combined 36 hours of auditions. This includes visual auditions as well as music auditions. Imagine a high school marching band, but 100 times bigger. The cost to march with the Mandarins is $6,200, with the last $1,400 going towards flights to and from California for preseason training. The fees include 3 meals a day, a custom uniform, an instrument, buses for over 5,000 miles, housing locations, and much, much more.

How this benefits me:

The two activities benefit me from an emotional, physical, and ethical standpoint. There is so much more that you gain from marching band and percussion than just a show. You learn how to put yourself out there, work with a team, be a leader; they both teach how to go out and work for what you want, and persevere through adversity and challenges. The things you learn in this art are life lessons that stick with you for the rest of your life, and that’s why I want to do these things.

Anything to donate would be an absolutely amazing donation and very much appreciated. Donating also makes a very great Christmas present as these two activities are really all I want to do for the next 6 months. Thank you all and I love y'all very much!!