LCM Instrumentalists head for All-State

BryAnna Lewis and Kace Smith, members of the Little Cypress Mauriceville High School Band program, will perform with the Texas All-State Band Ensembles on Saturday, February 16, 2019 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as part of the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention in San Antonio.

BryAnna will perform with the 5A Symphonic Band and Kace with the Texas All-State Jazz Ensemble.

They were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels.

BryAnna and Kace are students in the LCM Band Program under the direction of Mr. Jose Ochoa, who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 19,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin.

BryAnna studies flute with Jennifer Shannon and Kace studies saxophone with William Christian.

This is the first time for BryAnna to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization and the second time for Kace.

Bryanna is the daughter of Tina and Morris Smith.

Kace is the son of Roxanne Caldwell and Robert Smith.

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 2.4% 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 13,500 school music educators dedicated to promoting excellence in music education. Go to www.tmea.org/convention for more information.