Riverview High School freshman Carson Beattie moves his drumsticks with intense speed as the rhythm flows through him. The former clarinet player, who started playing the drums less than a year ago, won a Superior Grade 5 tenor solo and a Superior Medal at the Solo and Ensemble Festival in February, at Braden River High School.

Carson says he switched to the tenor drums from the clarinet because of the freedom it allows him. “I didn’t have to have breathing techniques (which playing the clarinet requires), and it was fun,” says Carson.

Carson attended the Solo and Ensemble Festival with the other members of Riverview’s drum line, who also won the Superior Grade 5 tenor solo.

“Everyone in drum line is at that level because we are all a very talented group of people,” Carson says.

Following his success at Braden River, Carson will compete in a statewide drumming competition in April in Fort Myers.

The International Baccalaureate student hopes to become a surgical pathologist, but he wants to continue playing the drums in college and keep it as a hobby throughout his life.

“When you are a drummer, that’s what you want to do all the time, and I wouldn’t want to give it up,” Carson says.

 

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