Area Students Selected as Texas All-State Musicians

Wesley DCamp, Nailah Donatto, Ellie Hale, Ivan Martinez, and X’Zerious Vallery are members of the Liberty High School Choir and will perform with the Texas All-State Small School Mixed Choir in San Antonio, Saturday, February 11, 2023, at the Henry B. González Convention Center as part of the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.

These students were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. The students sing at school under the direction of Christie Bean who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 14,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin.

This is Wesley DCamp’s second time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Wesley is the child of Byron & Laura DCamp.

This is Nailah Donatto’s third time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Nailah is the child of Victor & Tonya Donatto.

This is Ellie Hale’s first time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Ellie is the child of Josh & Christie Hale.

This is Ivan Martinez’s second time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Ivan is the child of Dustin & Grace Blackburn.

This is X’Zerious Vallery’s first time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. X’Zerious is the child of Lorie Tyler.

High school students selected to perform in the All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. 1,875 students are selected through a process that began with over 70,000 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of 18 ensembles.

Texas Music Educators Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition. This competitive 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 advances from their Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only the top 2.6% of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.

These All-State students participate in four days of rehearsals directed by nationally recognized conductors during the TMEA Clinic/Convention. Their performances for thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary event to a close. For the All-State concert and conductor information, go to the Performances section of www.tmea.org/convention.

Founded in 1921, Texas Music Educators Association is an association of over 14,000 members dedicated to promoting excellence in music education. Go to www.tmea.org/convention for more information.