John Paul Sulak and Darby Watson, members of the Little Cypress Mauriceville High School Choir and Band programs will perform with the Texas All-State Choir and Band Ensembles on Saturday, February 15th, 2020 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as part of the 2020 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention in San Antonio. John Paul will perform with the Small School Mixed Choir and Darby will perform with the 5A Symphonic Band. They were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. John Paul is a student of the LCM Choir program under the direction of Mrs. Nikki Hanson. Darby is a student in the LCM Band Program under the direction of Mr. Jose Ochoa. Mrs. Hanson and Mr. Ochoa are both members of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 19,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin. This is the first time for John Paul and Darby to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. John Paul is the son of Cathi and Robert Sulak. Darby is the daughter of Jennifer and Billy Watson.
High school students selected to perform in the
All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state
level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas
music student can receive. 1,780 students are selected through a process that begins
with over 72,900 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform
in one of 15 ensembles (bands, orchestras, and choirs). Texas Music Educators
Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition. This competitive process
begins throughout the state in auditions hosted by 33 TMEA Regions. Individual
musicians perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument
or voice part. From this ranking, a select group of musicians advances from their
Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area
competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area
competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only the top 2.5%
of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.
These All-State students participate in three days of rehearsals directed by nationally-recognized conductors during the TMEA Clinic/Convention. Their performances for thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary event to a close. For the All-State concert schedule and conductor information, go to the Performances section of www.tmea.org/convention.
The Texas Music Educators Association is an association of over 19,000 school music educators dedicated to promoting excellence in music education. Go to www.tmea.org/convention for more information.
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