CYPRESS TEXAS — Forty-six CFISD high school music students recently earned All-State honors through the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) auditioning process.
Students began the process of competing locally in the fall semester and advanced through a series of rigorous competition rounds to eventually earn this performance distinction.
“I am extremely proud of the 46 students from CFISD that earned the recognition of being called a Texas ‘All-State Musician,’” said Mary Running, director of fine arts. “This is one of the largest groups of students that have ever been chosen for this honor from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. These students are to be congratulated, along with their parents and teachers, on this outstanding honor. The TMEA auditions are a valuable educational experience for our music students and I would like to thank and congratulate the 1,000’s of student musicians from across our district that participated in the process.”
Cy-Fair High School choir members (from left) Derek Parker, Ria Blank, Madison Haydel, Emma White and Minh Tran earned TMEA All-State accolades following a rigorous audition process.
The students have been invited to the TMEA Clinic/Convention from February 13-16 in San Antonio where they will work with world-class conductors to present All-State concerts. TMEA is the largest music education conference of its kind in the world.
According to TMEA, All-State musicians have consistently scored higher than the national and Texas averages on the SAT college entrance exam. SAT scores from 2017 show that Texas All-State student musicians averaged a score of 1273. The national student average was a 1090 and the Texas average score was a 1040. From 2012-2016, scores from Texas All-State musicians were 20 percent higher than the national average and approximately 23 percent higher than the Texas average.
Cypress Ridge High School senior Ethan Pham was named to the TMEA All-State Band, one of 46 total CFISD students to make the all-state ensembles.
The following CFISD students earned TMEA All-State honors:
| Student Name | School and Organization |
| Mahesh Govindu | Cy-Fair Band |
| Luin Larson | Cy-Fair Band |
| Thomas Veenstra | Cy-Fair Band |
| Sara Rogalski | Cy-Fair Band |
| Ria Blank | Cy-Fair Choir |
| Madison Haydel | Cy-Fair Choir |
| Emma White | Cy-Fair Choir |
| Derek Parker | Cy-Fair Choir |
| Minh Tran | Cy-Fair Choir |
| Audrey Godfrey | Cy-Fair Orchestra |
| Kendra Schmeig | Cypress Creek Band |
| Logan Pierce | Cypress Creek Band |
| Kameron Thrasher | Cypress Creek Band |
| Emily Pace | Cypress Creek Choir |
| Lucas McKearin | Cypress Creek Choir |
| Quinton Parmenter | Cypress Creek Choir |
| Lucas Lynn | Cypress Falls Band |
| Carson Nguyen | Cypress Falls Band |
| Giselle Bautista | Cypress Falls Choir |
| Meghan Richards | Cypress Falls Choir |
| Ethan Ha | Cypress Falls Choir |
| Benjamin Mera | Cypress Falls Choir |
| Ariana Bonilla | Cypress Lakes Choir |
| Anushka Gupta | Cypress Ranch Band |
| Sarah Simmons | Cypress Ranch Band |
| David Holtgrewe | Cypress Ranch Band |
| Jonathan Moore | Cypress Ranch Choir |
| Ethan Pham | Cypress Ridge Band |
| Alan Duong | Cypress Ridge Orchestra |
| Mario Garay | Cypress Springs Band |
| Carly Arguelles | Cypress Springs Choir |
| Jolie Hammerstein | Cypress Woods Band |
| Sophie Maness | Cypress Woods Band |
| Sam Belcher | Cypress Woods Band |
| Adam Chen | Cypress Woods Band |
| Alexander Huang | Cypress Woods Band |
| Joseph Park | Cypress Woods Band |
| Joshua Pigg | Cypress Woods Band |
| Gabi Flores | Jersey Village Choir |
| Anndrea Sierra | Jersey Village Choir |
| Victor Xia | Jersey Village Orchestra |
| Andrew Cliburn | Langham Creek Band |
| Adam Garcia | Langham Creek Band |
| Kathryn Eugenio | Langham Creek Choir |
| Samuel Jinkins | Langham Creek Choir |
| Cameron Matthews | Langham Creek Choir |
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