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ECISD musicians selected for highest honor in Texas music education

PHS students standing around a piano in choir room

Permian HS choir, band, orchestra represented in this year's All-State Musician honors

Ector County ISD is excited and proud to introduce this year’s TMEA All-State musicians who will represent the District at the annual music educators’ conference in February. TMEA is the Texas Music Educators Association. This prestigious honor follows a rigorous series of regional and area auditions that began with more than 70,000 high school students and ends with only about 2% of those students selected as All-State.

“It is extraordinary for these kids to accomplish this,” said Permian High School Choir Director Laurie Wash who had eight students earn TMEA All-State this year. “They are very hard workers, they have a passion for music, for detail, and they are excited about pushing themselves. They don’t shrink from difficulty, and we are very, very proud of them.”

Left to right around the piano:

·         Aiden Armendariz (12), String Bass – Permian HS Orchestra (2nd Year)

·         Diego Campos (12), Bb Clarinet – Permian HS Band

·         Haley Hart (12), Alto 1 – Permian HS Choir (STEM Academy Student)

·         Jacob Lechtenberg (12), Bass 2 – Permian HS Choir

·         Valeria Rodriguez (12), Alto 1 – Permian HS Choir 

·         Jenesis Paget (12), Alto 2 – Permian HS Choir (3rd Year) – TMEA Scholarship Award

·         Madelyn Linville (12), Soprano 1 – Permian HS Choir

·         Bobby Schenkel (12), Tenor 1 – Permian HS Choir 

·         Caidence Searcy (12), Alto 1 – Permian HS Choir (3rd Year)

·         Sienna Pina (12), Soprano 2 – Permian HS Choir

For Aiden Armendariz, this is back-to-back All-State selections, “I feel very blessed to repeat it,” he said. “After doing it the first time I felt more familiar with everything  so I felt a bit more confident this year, more prepared.”

Jenesis Paget is one of two students who earned this distinction for the third time, a testament to their love of music and their willingness to work hard at it.

“Every year we get the music in August, and I think I’m gonna work hard and I’m gonna do this because at the end of the day going to that convention makes it all worth it,” said Jenesis. “There’s truly nothing like it, singing with people who love music the same way I do, that’s what I work for.”

One student, Haley Hart, attends the STEM Academy at the University of Texas Permian Basin and travels daily to PHS to be part of the choir program. “It’s definitely a struggle some days,” she said quickly adding, “What I have gained from being here is so valuable and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.”

“To be an All-State Musician means that you are the best, individually, in the State of Texas. So, it’s an elite honor,” said ECISD Executive Director of Fine Arts Aaron Hawley. “And they’ll be considered All-State Musicians for the rest of their life.”

Adding to the excitement is Jenesis’ selection as the recipient of the TMEA Executive Board Scholarship, a $2,500 award for high school seniors who are planning to major in music and become a teacher in Texas. “Knowing that they read basically a sum of my life and they thought ‘okay, maybe she’s worth it, she is enough to get this,’ it just means so much to me,” said Jenesis.

As All-State musicians, these kids will perform in one of 18 All-State ensembles in band, orchestra, and vocal divisions, as part of the TMEA Clinic/Convention February 12-15 in San Antonio.