Reyna Hildreth, Seth Jones, Sean Gist, Amanda Dean, and Dylan Halliday,members of the North Lamar High School Band and Choir, will perform with the Texas All-State Choirs, Bands, and Orchestras in San Antonio, Saturday, February 16, 2019, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as part of the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Clinic/Convention. They were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels.
Sean Gist, a junior, will be performing for the third time as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. He currently holds the school record with 2002 North Lamar graduate Seth Sikes for making TMEA All-State three consecutive years. Sean is the son of Sammy Gist and Sheri Gist.
Seth Jones, a senior, will be performing for the second time as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Seth is the son of Rodney and Becky Jones.
Reyna Hildreth, a junior, will be performing for the first time as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Reyna is the daughter of Clint and Rebecca Hildreth.
Amanda Dean, a junior, will be performing for the first time as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Amanda is the daughter of Garrel and Christy Dean.
Dylan Halliday, a junior, plays Bass Trombone and will perform for the first time as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Dylan is the son of Richard and Danae Halliday.
NLHS band director Randy Jones and choir director Rebecca Hildreth are members of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 19,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin. Jones has been Director of Bands for North Lamar ISD for the past 32 years. Hildreth has been Director of North Lamar’s Choirs since 2005. This is the most number of students to make TMEA All-State Choir since 2000.
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 competitive process that begins with over 70,000 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of the 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.
