In a significant display of musical excellence, Pearland Independent School District recently celebrated the achievement of twenty-one of its high school musicians who have secured spots in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) all-state performing groups.
These students from Dawson and Pearland High Schools have demonstrated outstanding talent and dedication, epitomizing the adage that practice makes perfect by reaching the pinnacle of musical achievement for Texas high school students.
On February 10, these all-state students are slated to engage in three days of intensive rehearsals under the leadership of nationally recognized conductors. This preparation will lead up to their performance at the annual TMEA Clinic/Convention in San Antonio, a significant event and the nation’s largest music educators convention.
Tom Bell, the Director of Fine Arts at Pearland ISD, expressed immense pride in the students’ accomplishments. “Making all-state is the highest achievement a high school music student can attain.
It is an indicator that the students not only have received great instruction from their elementary music teachers up to their current high school directors, but also that they applied themselves to develop their skills to the best of their ability,” he stated.
The DHS All-State Choir proudly includes Camden Baker, Daniel Jacob, Amber Schaefer, and Samantha Walker. Representing the PHS All-State Choir are Armando Cabrera-Ontiveros and Carlos Garza. The DHS All-State Band boasts a lineup of talented musicians, including Scott Cripps, Hantao Jin, Daniel Jones, Joshua Linerode, Callie Meng, Ethan Montes, James Powers, Devin Saljuud, Konstantin Sinyak, Amy Zhang, Efran Zhao on the violin, and Ares Zhou. The PHS All-State Band features Anthony Macias, Jackson Frerking, and Carden Tran.
Bell also highlighted the broader developmental benefits of participating in such a competitive process: “When practicing for the competition on their own, the students develop grit, perseverance, and discipline. This not only makes every student that participates in the process, regardless of the outcome, a better musician but also develops habits that the students can then transfer to every aspect of their academic and personal lives.”
Guiding these talented young musicians are band directors Aaron Brown from DHS and Ryan Demkovich from PHS. The DHS Choir is directed by Roxan Silva, and the PHS Choir by Michael Kessler.
Each year, TMEA rigorously selects approximately 1,800 students statewide for performance in one of 18 all-state band, orchestra, and choir ensembles. This selection represents only the top 2.6% of musicians who initially audition, filtered down from more than 70,000 students who begin the competition through regional auditions.
A select group of the highest-ranking performers advances to area and then to state, marking this achievement as not only a milestone for the individual students but also a testament to the caliber of Pearland ISD’s music programs.
