Decorah native chosen to conduct the Waldorf College Drum Line

Waldorf College is gearing up for its first ever percussion ensemble this fall--the Warrior Line drum line.  Decorah native Chris Ward has been hired to lead the program.

Ward says he's excited about bringing percussion to the students and local community, "We are going to start with a drum line this fall and then a marching band," he said.

Starting a brand new program brings challenges: "We have a lot of members who don't have a percussion background. So this fall we are going to learn how to play drums and hold the sticks," Ward said.

Born and raised in Decorah, Ward earned his master's degree in percussion performance, music history and audio engineering from Western Michigan University after earning a bachelor's degree in music from University of Northern Iowa.

After graduating from Western Michigan, he worked as the interim director of bands and directed a 300-member marching band at the university for a year.  He then moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and joined the Blue Stars Drums and Bugal Corps, where he led the band to a variety of tours across the country. As the traveling got heavy for his family, he switched to working as a salesperson at music store and taught percussion and drumlines at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.

Ward decided to move to Forest City and join Waldorf when his wife became the chief information officer at the North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC). He is happy to be in a small town, where he is close to his family and friends.