TMEA stands for Texas Music Educators Association, and it splits into five divisions. The divisions include Band, Orchestra, Vocal, Elementary, and Colledge.  Canyon Vista’s Honors Orchestra was selected to play at the TMEA convention in San Antonio for winning the TMEA Honor Orchestra competition.

“The TMEA Honor Orchestra Competition is a statewide competition for orchestras in Texas,” orchestra director Ragan Whatley said, “The winning orchestra is then invited to perform at the following year’s TMEA Convention, which is attended by over 20,000 music educators from all over the state of Texas.”

Riya Patil (8) is a violin player in the Honor Orchestra.

“It’s orchestra in our region for middle schoolers and high schoolers, and you get into different orchestras when you audition,” Patil said, ” There are two levels you can get into. There are string orchestra and a full orchestra with string and band instruments, which is sort of the higher level.”

Honor Orchestra has performed in the convention four times before. Therefore, making them the only middle school to have had the title of Honor Orchestra so many times. Schools that enter the competition must send in a recording of the group playing three to four pieces in front of a live audience. The recordings are judged by five judges in an opening round. If you’re selected for the top seven, you’ll advance to the finals. Then, the seven remaining orchestras are judged by another panel of five judges who’ll determine your outcome.

“We are very excited to represent our school and Round Rock ISD at our performance on February 13, 2020, in San Antonio. The students in our program are working hard to ensure that it is a memorable performance for everyone involved,” Mr. Whatley said.