Moses Lake teen knows the way to Carnegie Hall

MOSES LAKE - Roland Ramirez' face is blank as he plays his drum set in the living room of a Moses Lake house.

"When I play there's so much you can do. You can play to express yourself. That's what I like to do," Ramirez said. "Usually when I play, it's just a form of expression. Then I just enjoy it and have a lot of fun."

The 17-year-old Moses Lake High School senior has played percussion instruments since he was in sixth grade, and is taking his skill to New York City in February as part of the 2011 American High School Honors Performance Series.

For five days, Ramirez will join other performers from across the United States and Canada, culminating in a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Ramirez was selected after being a category winner in percussion in a regional competition in Wenatchee. He competed in the state competition at Central Washington University.

"So when I got there, I got what is a superior ranking," he said. "(The adjudicators) nominated me to apply."

When Ramirez first applied, he was rejected, but they changed their minds, he said, adding he auditioned on three different percussion instruments in the high school band room.

"What I did was a couple études, which are short, little songs that are probably 32 bars. They're probably no more than a minute and a half," he said. "So I auditioned on a timpani, then the marimba and also on a snare drum."

He is practicing the six pieces of music for the Saturday evening performance, Ramirez said, adding he received the music about two weeks ago. When he arrives in New York, the entire band will get two-and-a-half days to practice before they perform. He said the pieces could be difficult depending on what happens when he arrives.

"We'll play them like the recording goes, or how we see it on the page. Yet the conductor will always make changes, so you've got to expect those," he said. "The best thing you can do is learn what's on the page."

Ramirez enjoys a lot of different styles, saying he started with jazz in one of the high school's jazz bands. 

"That's the first style I ever started to play was jazz. Then from there, I started learning Latin, then getting into rock, then so many different styles," he said. "I like R and B, like Motown, like the old style rock and rock from the 50s. From there on up into the 60s, 70s and 80s."

He plays in several of the high school bands, including the jazz combo and jazz band. He plans to continue performing when he goes to college and majors in music performance.