Ten Denton ISD Students Selected for TMEA All-State Band, Choir, Orchestra

Ten Denton ISD musicians earned All-State honors for the 2022-2023 school year from the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA). TMEA is an organization of more than 12,000 school music educators dedicated to promoting excellence in music education. 

These students were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held across the state at the district, region and area levels. This 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 advance from their region to compete against musicians from areas in eight TMEA Area competitions. The highest ranking musicians judged at the area competition qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. 

All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can achieve. Only 1,875 students are selected through a process beginning with over 70,000 students – meaning only the top 2.6% of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians. 

The Denton ISD students named to the highest musical honor in Texas include the following:

Braswell Band
Arianna Shepherd, All-State Jazz Ensemble, 3rd Chair Trumpet
Mr. Aaron Snipes III, Director 
Mr. Taylor Sitzman, Assistant Director 
Mr. DeCorian Hailey, Principal

Denton Band
Caleb Harold, All-State Sinfonietta Orchestra, 6th Chair French Horn
Leo Illari, All-State Sinfonietta Orchestra, 2nd Chair Trombone
Mr. Brian Wilson, Director
Mr. Jesse Woolery, Assistant Director
Mr. Joel Hays, Principal

Guyer Orchestra
Celine Cho, All-State Philharmonic Orchestra, Violin 1
Audrey Lee, All-State Philharmonic Orchestra, Violin 1
Ms. Michelle Hanlon, Director
Ms. Sarah Wright, Assistant Director
Dr. Shaun Perry, Principal 

Guyer Band
Cale Golden, All-State 6A Concert Band, 5th Chair Bb Clarinet
Mr. Rob Myers, Director
Ms. Mikaela Pyle, Assistant Director
Dr. Shaun Perry, Principal 

Guyer Choir
Aiden Daniel, All-State Tenor Bass Choir, Bass 1
Maxwell Douglas, All-State Mixed Choir, Bass 2
Ms. Katherin Engle, Director
Mr. Tyler Fox, Assistant Director
Dr. Shaun Perry, Principal

Ryan Choir
Favour Ayeni, All-State Treble Choir, Alto 2
Jack Bowman, All-State Tenor Bass Choir, Tenor 2
Mr. David Rives, Director
Ms. Sam Kats, Assistant Director
Mr. Vernon Reeves, Principal