Former DHS drum major continues at MSU

Life has come full circle for Kelsei Elmore. The former Demopolis High School drum major has been named one of the four drum majors for the Mississippi State University Famous Maroon Band.

A chemical engineering major at MSU, Elmore received a partial band scholarship to the university to play the alto saxophone. Last spring, after two years with the band, she decided to try out for drum major. She made it to the top four, but only one slot was open.

This year was different. Two slots were opened, and she had the experience of having been through the two-round competitive process already.

For the first round, all 30 of the competitors – out of the 400-member band — were required to send in a visual recording of themselves conducting the music of their choice. It had to show different time signatures, different cutoffs and different styles of conducting such as legato, staccato and marcato.

In the second round, Elmore faced a personal interview with the three band directors.

“They give you a piece you’ve never seen before.” Her sheet music was a marching band arrangement from “The Greatest Showman,” a movie she hadn’t seen. To make things even more interesting, the directors sang the music following her directions as conductor.

The directors then posed several different scenarios, asking what she would do in those situations.

Last year it took a full day to learn the results. This year she found out within four hours that she had been chosen.

The pre-game performance by the MSU band has the four drum majors located on each side of the field so band members can follow their lead. For the half time program, their places on the field are determined by the formations.

Elmore won’t be playing her saxophone on field for the next two years, but she remains a member of the symphonic and concert bands.

Since she had completed 25 hours of college credit before her graduation from DHS, Elmore has been able to get most of her required courses completed. Because of that, she will be able to take a lighter load during the fall semester when the band has a rigorous schedule.

What makes her new position even more fun is that one of the rookie band members this coming fall is Aslan Foster, a fellow student she led at DHS.

Elmore is the daughter of Jackie Elmore. Her grandparents are Gus and Joyce Weiss.