Each year, the Texas Music Educators Association honors students for their impressive work in high school bands, choirs and orchestras.
This year, 80 local students from Lewisville ISD, Northwest ISD, Argyle ISD and Coram Dao Academy made the cut.
According to TMEA, more than 70,000 high school students across the state audition in their TMEA Region. Individuals perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument or voice part.
A select group of musicians then advance to compete against musicians from other regions in the area competition. Eventually, the highest-ranking musicians qualify to perform in one of 18 Texas All-State ensembles sponsored by the Band, Orchestra and Vocal divisions.
“These students earned this honor through years of hard work, along with the support of their parents, teachers and the community,” said Dr. Kevin Lacefield, Northwest ISD’s executive director of fine arts. “This is the highest achievement a high school musician can achieve in the state of Texas, and Northwest ISD is very proud of these highly accomplished student musicians.”
Here are the southern Denton County student musicians that were selected:
All-State Symphony Orchestra
- Damee Jong, a senior flutist from Flower Mound High School
- Josh Claus, a junior tenor trombonist from Flower Mound High School
- Erin Choi, a senior violinist from Flower Mound High School
- Benjamin Beshay, a sophomore violist from Flower Mound High School
- Kenneth Nguyen, senior cellist from Flower Mound High School
- Matthew Chwa, a junior cellist from Flower Mound High School
- Jason Hoo, a senior percussionist from Marcus High School
- Esther Park, a senior violinist from Hebron High School
- Vedanth Mukkamalla, a junior cellist from Hebron High School
- Jaron Joby, a senior flutist from Hebron High School
- Elizabeth Johnson, a senior contra-bassoonist from Northwest High School
- Isaac Nielsen, a junior percussionist from Byron Nelson High School
- Bryce Orupabo, a junior bassoonist from Eaton High School
- Levi Robertson, a junior French Horn player from Coram Dao Academy
All-State Philharmonic Orchestra
- Ian Kim, a senior cellist from Marcus High School
- Ethan Kim, a junior cellist from Marcus High School
- Caleb Coddington, a senior tuba player from Marcus High School
- Brenner James, a sophomore percussionist from Marcus High School
- Isabella Saez, a junior cornetist/trumpeter from Hebron High School
- Gyeom Jung, a freshman violist from Hebron High School
- Benjamin Brooks, a senior string bassist from Byron Nelson High School
- Aiden Flower, a senior violist from Eaton High School
All-State Sinfonietta Orchestra
- Feier Tian, a sophomore violinist from Flower Mound High School
- Addison Chong, a sophomore violinist from Flower Mound High School
- Edward Hwang, a senior violinist from Marcus High School
- Sonny Munoz, a sophomore percussionist from The Colony High School
- Bradley Gover, a senior flutist from Argyle High School
- Eddie Akers, a sophomore bass trombonist from Argyle High School
All-State 6A Symphonic Band
- Shalom Lee, a senior flutist from Flower Mound High School
- Julian Murray, a sophomore clarinetist from Flower Mound High School
- Jimmy Lu, a senior clarinetist from Flower Mound High School
- Ethan Murray, a senior baritone saxophonist from Flower Mound High School
- Abigail Alspach, a junior cornetist/trumpeter from Flower Mound High School
- Haylee Ziegenhorn, a senior French Horn player from Flower Mound High School
- Santiago Diaz, a junior percussionist from Marcus High School
- Jacob Bailey, a senior percussionist from Marcus High School
- Tien Tran, a junior clarinetist from Lewisville High School
- Charlie Hardin, a junior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Logan Wheeler, a junior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Patrick Trichan, a junior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Stella Sullivan, a senior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Walker Carmichael, a junior contra-bassist from Hebron High School
- Colston Groves, a senior cornetist/trumpeter from Hebron High School
- Veer Udani, a senior cornetist/trumpeter from Hebron High School
- Riley Boyd, a senior French Horn player from Hebron High School
- Bergen Jones, a senior bass trombonist from Hebron High School
- Nick Velasquez, a senior euphonium player from Hebron High School
- Eastin Baker, a junior euphonium player from Hebron High School
- Ian Phillips, a senior tuba player from Hebron High School
- Aspen Katkin, a senior oboist from Byron Nelson High School
- Kai Schumann, a junior French Horn player from Eaton High School
All-State 6A Concert Band
- Marlow Johnson, a junior French Horn player from Marcus High School
- Knox Keeney, a sophomore tenor trombonist from Marcus High School
- Saanvi Rana, a senior flutist from Hebron High School
- David Mech, a junior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Ean Nguyen, a senior clarinetist from Hebron High School
- Anthony Truong, a sophomore bassoonist from Hebron High School
- Adin Pasternak, a senior bass saxophonist from Hebron High School
- Hien Do, a senior tuba player from Hebron High School
- Davis Taylor, a senior French Horn player from Eaton High School
All-State 5A Symphonic Band
- Samuel Guzman, a sophomore contra-bassoonist from Flower Mound High School
- Caelan Arnquist, a junior bassoonist from The Colony High School
- Camden Cooper, a sophomore cornetist/trumpeter from Argyle High School
- Hayden Blackmon, a junior euphonium player from Argyle High School
All-State Large School Mixed Choir
- Esha Sayani, a senior soprano from Flower Mound High School
- Elyse Brown, a senior soprano from Hebron High School
- Harper Knight, a sophomore alto from Hebron High School
- Aiden Johnson, a junior bass from Hebron High School
- Taryn Hernandez, a senior soprano Eaton High School
- Noah Merriweather, a senior bass from Eaton High School
All-State Treble Choir
- Ysabella De Jesus, a junior soprano from Flower Mound High School
- Madison Faria, a senior alto from Flower Mound High School
- Samantha Swindle, a sophomore from Marcus High School
- Liberty Rodriguez, a sophomore alto from Hebron High School
- Reese Puckett, a junior soprano from Byron Nelson High School
- Aubrielle Neal, a junior alto from Eaton High School
All-State Tenor-Bass Choir
- Ben Kegg, a junior from Flower Mound High School
- Makai Williams, a sophomore from Marcus High School
- RJ Cruz, a junior from Byron Nelson High School
All-State 6A Percussion Ensemble
- Yunseok Jang, a senior percussionist from Hebron High School
According to Northwest ISD, All-State Musicians will now perform in San Antonio on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Henry B. González Convention Center as part of the 2026 TMEA Clinic/Convention.
Northwest ISD’s Leo Adams Middle School Chorale Treble will perform at the convention on Friday.
According to the district, the all-girls choir was one of 14 ensembles selected from a pool of 130 middle, high and collegiate applicants.
For more information on TMEA and its All-State program, visit the organization’s website.
