2017 “HIT LIKE A GIRL” International Drumming Competition and Sponsor Information

6th Annual Hit Like A Girl international contest for female drummers opens February 1, 2017.

The 2017 Hit Like A Girl global contest for female drummers opens for entries on February 1, 2017, organizers have announced an exciting, world-class line-up of sponsors that are contributing prizes as well as support this year, including many of the world’s top drum manufacturing and media companies. Among this year’s new sponsors are Roland, Sweetwater, and LP. Returning for 2017 are popular brands such as Avedis Zildjian, DW/PDP, Evans/Promark, KHS (Mapex/Sonor/NFUZD), Sabian, Vic Firth, Yamaha, Audix, Cympad, Innovative, School Of Rock, TRX and Vater. Also joining as supporting sponsors are Craviotto, C+C, TKL and Direct Sound.

Hit Like A Girl Artist Relations Director, Louise King, has released the initial list of confirmed judges for the 2017 female drumming contest. In addition to this year’s celebrity spokesperson Kimberly Thompson, the all-star roster of judges for the drumset categories features Veronica Bellino, Jess Bowen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Didi Negron, Sarah Tomek and Hannah Welton along with top international players Camille Bigeault and Delphine Langhoff (France), Anika Nilles (Germany), Emily Dolan-Davies and Cherisse Osei (UK), Yissy Garcia (Cuba, and pictured below) and Senri Kawaguchi (Japan). 2016 HLAG Champions Helen De La Rosa and Becca Webster will serve as 2017 judges along with a group of exceptional, up-and-coming drummers including Lorna Blundell, Hayley Brownell, Danielle Markham, Stephanie Snyder and Lindsey Raye Ward.

Concert And Marching Categories
Celebrity judges for the new Concert, Marching and World Percussion categories will include Carrie Biolo, Julie Davila, Julie Hill, Amy Knoles, Magdelys Savigne and Mona Tavakoli. Drumming legends Kenny Aronoff and Dennis Chambers have accepted invitations and will be Special Guest judges for 2017, too.

“We are inspired by the Hit Like A Girl program and see the value it has on so many levels,” comments Thad Tegtmeyer, Sweetwater’s Vice President of Campus Sales Operations & Artist Relations. “Here at Sweetwater, we are equally passionate about empowering this particular demographic of musicians. We think the contest is great.”

2017 HLAG affiliate and media sponsors Drum! and the DRUM! Mag Network (courtesy of Stringletter Publishing), Alternative Press, Digital Drummer, Drum Channel, Drums & Percussion, Hudson/Drum Guru, PAS, Rhythm/Music Radar, WGI and Wikidrummers/The Drumming Lab are also supporting the contest and helping spread the word to drummers all around the world.

Selected drum set judges will join with top female executives from Yamaha, Sabian, Zildjian, Roland, DW, Mapex and Evans to determine the winners of the six weekly mini-contests that occur within the overall Hit Like A Girl competition.

For the first time in the contest’s six-year history, every entrant will also receive their score, comments and feedback from a qualified drum instructor. Educators from the Percussive Arts Society, D’Addario Education collective, Sabian Education Network and Vic Firth Private Drum Teachers programs will be responsible for the preliminary scoring using a specially created evaluation form that rates each contestant on factors such as Groove, Sound, Technique, Musicality & Interpretation, Showmanship & Effect and Presentation as well as the contestant’s personal Story. The names and information for these preliminary judges can be found along with the bios for all judges on the HLAG website at www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com/judges.

On March 20, 2017, once all 24 finalists from the upper and lower age divisions are determined, celebrity judging and public voting will begin. For further information visit www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com.
To sign up and for more information, visit www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com

Now in its 6th year, since the Hit Like A Girl Contest began there have been more than 2,000 participants from 50 countries and more than 10,000,000 online impressions. Sponsors have included many of today’s leading drum, percussion, hardware, electronics and media companies while judges have included some of the most popular, most important and most influential drummers on the planet. Hit Like A Girl’s 2017 co-spokesperson is Kimberly Thompson.

The 2017 contest opens for entries on Wednesday, February 1 and closes Tuesday, March 14, 2017. This year the contest is being expanded to include separate categories for Drum set, World Percussion, Marching Percussion and Concert Percussion. To enter, participants merely post their videos on YouTube or Vimeo and register at www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com.
Each entry will be reviewed by a panel of professional educators from the Sabian Education Network, Vic Firth Private Drum Teachers program and D’Addario Education Collective. Every entrant will receive written feedback on their performance along with a digital “Power Pack” containing free educational material and special offers from HLAG Sponsors.
Each week during the entry period, one winner will be chosen in the under and over 18 age divisions by a panel of industry executives. These winners will be selected based on their performance, passion and potential and announced on February 13, 20 and 27 and March 6, 13 and 20.
The 20 top-ranked videos along with specially-selected “Wild Cards” in each age group will move on to the final round. Public voting and professional judging on the finalists’ videos will run from Monday, March 20 through Sunday, April 2.
The popular winners as well as the top judges’ selections in the Drumset and Percussion categories in the upper and lower age groups— plus the Achievement Award recipients— will be announced on Thursday, April 6. Winners will receive drum gear and prizes valued at more than $15,000.