A record-breaking 13 Midway High School students were selected for the 2021 Texas Music Educators Association All-State Choir, including alternates.
Congratulations to these talented musicians:
Top Row L-R:
Meredith Villarrial (Soprano 1)
Iris Ortega (Soprano 2)
Madeline Greener (Soprano 2)
Carrigan Young (Alto 1)
Brooklyn Lankford (Alto 2)
Jenna Pietsch (Alto 2)
Bottom Row L-R:
Shep Helton (Tenor 1)
Harper Singletary (Tenor 1)
Walker Garrett (Tenor 2)
Sam Smyers (Tenor 2 Alternate)
Scott Schultz (Bass 1)
Evan Watts (Bass 2)
Jonathan Ayers (Bass 2)
The competitive audition process began last fall when over 50,000 Texas high school students auditioned at the regional level for TMEA All-State. Out of these students, 1,860 were selected as TMEA All-State Members, which is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive.
The audition process requires students across 33 TMEA regions to perform selected music for a panel of judges, who rank each instrument or voice part. Based on these rankings, students are selected to advance and compete against other students in their TMEA area.
On Jan. 16, 17 Midway High School choir students auditioned virtually in the area round of competitions. The musicians who ranked the highest from the eight TMEA area competitions are honored as TMEA All-State members.
This year TMEA will not host an All-State performance event due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Each of these students is under the direction of Jeff Rice, Jannifer Rice and Caleb Overstreet. Students also take private voice lessons from Julianne Best, David Guess and Tina Hays.
About the Texas Music Educators Association:
The Texas Music Educators Association is an organization of over 13,000 school music educators who have worked to ensure the excellence of music education for all Texas students for over 100 years. TMEA sponsors the Texas All-State audition process to promote students’ dedication to their musical knowledge and skill and to encourage educators to support their students in this development. To learn more about TMEA visit https://www.tmea.org/.
