Arts Student of the Week Jasper Allison

Jasper Allison has been listening to music and playing drums his entire life. "Music has always been a necessity for me," Allison said. "I don't think of it as an interest, but rather a part of my personality and who I am, and just kind of me." The 16-year-old musician is a junior at Niwot High School. His music teacher, Wade Hendricks, nominated him for Arts Student of the Week.

Allison has taken advantage of the many music opportunities the high school has to offer. He has been in the drumline for the Niwot High School Marching Band for three years, in the percussion ensemble class for two years, and in choir for two-and-a-half years.

Allison is about to finish his first year of jazz band. "It has been such a great community," he said, "and I have learned and improved so much with the help of the fellow members of the bands and Mr. Hendricks."

Many musical influences factor into his playing. Allison listens to Buddy Rich and Neil Peart, and there is ZackGrooves, a YouTube performer that Allison enjoys watching and from whom he has learned quite a bit. "I am a big fan of Erik Morales," Allison said, "because he makes a lot of very fun charts to play and read."

Allison is appreciative of the musical opportunities he has been exposed to at NHS. "I am in Evenstar, which is the top audition choir at Niwot," he said. "I have been for two years, along with the rest of the bands I am in, and I absolutely enjoy them. Evenstar is a show choir, so we do more than just sing average choir songs, and it has been such a great experience for me."

He also performs in Voltage 85, a band with his sister, who sings, and a pianist who graduated from NHS last year. "We play around town a lot," Allison said, "and just recently went to Memphis as part of the Colorado Blues Society competition, which was an amazing experience." The band also played at the Greeley Blues Jam last summer.

The experiences Allison has had at NHS have left a positive impression on him. "All of the performances have been super fun, but a couple of things that stuck out were the first percussion ensemble concert we had. People were surprised as to how cool it sounded and it was a great feeling seeing the looks on everyone's faces when we finished. I also just recently had a drum solo at the combo concert for the jazz bands, and I would say it was the best solo I've done, and it was very fun, and I think it impressed a lot of people, which was awesome."

Niwot High, the drummer confirmed, has been the best school he could imagine. It has opened up many new opportunities for him, and has introduced him to both new musical and non-musical possibilities. Overall, he admitted, he couldn't imagine having a better high school experience.

In addition to music, Allison enjoys acting. "It just makes me feel like I can do anything or play anyone, which is fun," he said. He also likes to draw, and he appreciates tricking and performing flips on his trampoline. When it comes to his future, Allison would like to attend college, studying film acting or film education. "And," he added enthusiastically, "to keep music and drumming as a side hobby or interest to keep pursuing."