Students walking down the E-Hall in the mornings can hear drums, xylophones, and marimbas resonating from a far room in the back as percussion ensembles are preparing for their concert Thursday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

“I’m up here rehearsing Monday, Thursday, and Friday,” freshman Ashley Johnson said. “I’m in several songs such as Sacrificial Rite, Dancing Cob, Erlkonig, and Crown of Thorns. I like collaborating with other people, it’s a lot of fun.”

There are six ensembles this year, with three to four students in each group. They will be playing Erlkonig, Sacrificial Rite, Tango Argentino, Danse Macabre, Bicksa, Baila Conmigo, Dance of the Swan, The Evening News, Just Bring the Soca, and Crown of Thorns.

“Students are grouped together based on ability level and also based on the difficulty of individual parts,” assistant band director Nathan Lewis said. “We have been practicing on this music since the beginning of the spring semester.”