Drumroll, please: Burnsville High School Drumline takes first at state

Burnsville High School (BHS) Drumline hit all the right notes at the 2025 Minnesota Percussions Association (MPA) Championships held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester on April 5. MPA is a drumline and winds competition circuit for groups in Minnesota and surrounding states

The victory marks the program’s eighth state title and first since 2015. Burnsville was also voted as “Fan Favorite” for the second consecutive year.

This year's championship-winning production, titled "Sentient," took the audience on an interstellar journey following a group of astronauts through the vastness of space. The show featured musical arrangements of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” as well as original music written and produced by staff.  

Completely designed and created by drumline staff, the production included music, visual elements, props, floor design and uniform elements.

“We have had a lot of close calls in the last 10 years since our last title,” said Paul Connell, head director. “We had a couple of those years where we were in second place and a couple of years where the pandemic interrupted some great teams, so it was fun to finish on top again. It was also great to be honored with the Fan Favorite award because we always try to create a show that is enjoyable for the audience. We’ve had wonderful support from our friends, family, alumni and fans throughout the season.” 

This season, the team finished in either first or second at all competitions, including a first-place finish at state prelims hosted at BHS. That performance included one of the top scores in program history. 

With nearly 50 performers in grades 7-12, this year’s team is also the largest in program history.   

BHS Drumline includes: 

• 12th Grade: Stephanie Aguirre, Anais Calva-Navarro, Anthony Cubias, Mya Halliday, Zaria Jimoh, Kevin Rodriguez Cervantes and Renna Zirbel
• 11th Grade: Solyana Bein, Karen Hernandez Rodriguez, Ryan Kennedy, Jacob Lara, Samuel Morgan, Alex Nachand, Olu Oladejo, Michael Oye, Brian Russell, Exie Soundara and Deacon Wening
• 10th Grade: Kiara Angeline, Issa Ben, Kerry Crawford, Will Edgeton, Max Rocca, Xavier Sachse, Landen Schmidt, Isaac Wening and Ella Zirbel
• 9th Grade: Archer Bodenner, Lillyanna Bolton, Lucy Brown, El Corts, Dyan De la Fuente, Alan Engdahl, Emery Gehrke, Israel Lara, Caleb Mcarthur, Ricky Mikkelsen, Charlie Morgan, Tobias Olson, Isaiah Tilbury, Aiden Tran and Alex Wening
• 8th Grade: Joey Connell, Ingrid Engdahl, Jeunan Tran, Levi Williams and Maya Zirbel
• 7th Grade: Avery Aguirre and Valerie Aguirre
• Staff: Paul Connell, Alex Claseman, Matt Schmeichel, Jordan Wein, Tyrese Leverty, Michelle Reigen (Reitan), Audra Hakanson, Nate Grenke, Blake Widness, Laura Connell and Alex Cole  

The full performance can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iecVNc-hG1Q.