Meet Nazareth's "Whiz Kid" Justin Tanzos

"Whiz Kid" Facts: 

• Name: Justin Tanzos
• School: Senior at 
• School Activities: NAHS marching band, concert band, wind ensemble, pit orchestra
• Other Activities: Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps, Camden, N.J. Tanzos is a tenor percussionist for the semi-professional drum corps that performs in national competitions. Jersey Surf is a member of Drum Corps International.

"Whiz Kid" Accomplishments: 

• Honors: High honor roll, songwriter – he wrote the introductory music for the high school’s morning news program. He also writes music for movies a friend makes.
• Awards: Was ranked first chair percussion for the 2011 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Wind Ensemble. For three consecutive years, he has been selected for the state competition.

"Whiz Kid" Key to Awesomeness:

From the time he was 2, Justin Tanzos has liked the drums. His first impressionable memory of the instrument was when he and his brother, Mike, tagged along with their father to a Nazareth Area High School marching band practice. His dad had written a percussion piece for the drum line.

Justin remembers the first musicians he saw that day: two tenor percussionists.

Tenor drums are a group of four drums of various tones that are connected to each other. In marching bands, the musician wears a harness in order to carry them, Justin said. In the 1980s, tenor drums were grouped in threes and were called triplets. Today, the instrument has increased to five or six in a grouping.

Although drums became Justin's first favorite instrument, he started music lessons in school on the baritone sax.

“I’m a wind player that plays drums,” Justin explained, adding that this school year, he chose to play the baritone in the marching band instead of the drums.

“I’m still a drummer though,” he said.

It was Justin's abilities as a percussionist that led to him being selected for the 2011 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Wind Ensemble.

As for states, Justin explained that students must first audition and be accepted to district band, then regionals and finally states. Only sophomores and upper classmen are eligible for regionals and states, he said. Justin made it to states each year he was eligible.

“I know what to expect when I go in [to audition],” he said. “I have people who know what sounds wrong and how to make it better.”

Those people are his family, according to Justin, who is the youngest of three boys.

• His oldest brother, Matt, also a percussionist, is a music teacher and band director at Whitehall High School.
• The middle brother, Mike, plays the trumpet for a competitive drum corps and is majoring in music at Kutztown University.
• Jennifer, the boys' mother, plays the flute and writes music for the Whitehall High School marching band's flute line.
• The boys' father, also named Matt, is a drummer and writes music for the Whitehall High School marching band's drum line.

“He’s like a judge I have here all of the time,” Justin said about his dad, but added that he's not judgmental, just an experienced musician.

After graduation, Justin will head to Kutztown University to major in music education and composition because he loves to write music, and ultimately, would like to become a composer.

“You can write anything you want," Justin said. "There’s no end to it. When I write music, sometimes I get stuck, but there’s always some way you can add a note, make it different. There’s an indefinite amount of notes you can put down.”