Central High School Seniors Earn All-State Choir and Band Honors

Two Central High School seniors, Joseph Cortese and Marcos Garcia, were recently selected for the Texas Music Educators Association All-State Choir and All-State Band, said a press release Monday.

According to the release, All-State is the highest honor for a Texas music student. Cortese and Garcia will perform during the All-State concerts during the TMEA conference on Feb. 13 in San Antonio. Their directors are Landon Gilmore, director of choirs; Sunday Vaught, associate director of choirs; and Joey Ashbrook, director of bands. All three directors are members of the Texas Music Educators Association, a more than 12,000-member organization with headquarters in Austin.

The All-State audition process starts with over 64,000 students from around the state vying for this honor. The competition begins with auditions hosted by 28 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 seven TMEA Area competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group where only 3 percent of musicians who audition become All-State, said the release.

Both Cortese and Garcia will have their shot at this honor.

Cortese, a senior bass vocalist, sings in the HarmoniCats Show Choir as well as the Chorale, and serves as student director. He has studied privately with Angela Ochoa, Pat May and Candis Hicks. He is the son of Jacqueline and Gary Cortese.

Garcia is a senior trumpet player and field soloist for the Mighty Bobcat Band and has studied privately with Dr. John Irish, Professor of Trumpet Performance at Angelo State University. His parents are Robert and Marivel Garcia.

TMEA is the largest music convention and consortium in the world and boasts the highest level of musicianship, student leadership and performance. Cortese and Garcia will have the opportunity to rehearse and perform with the most outstanding students in the state of Texas as well as professional performers and conductors from around the world.