Congrats to the Students of All-State Band
Seven Cedar High School band students were selected for the Texas Music Educator Association (or TMEA) 5A All-state band. Cedar Park students competed in the Area D audition process on Jan. 12 against some of the best players in the state.
The seven students selected for the All-State Band were junior Austin Cernosek (percussion), senior Anthony Cortes (bass trombone), sophomore Nello Kotyuk (trumpet), junior Peter Menchu (clarinet), junior Courtney Regester (flute), junior Johnny Theisen (trumpet) and junior Anna Wessels (trombone).
“There were over 60,000 students from across the state that began the audition process for these coveted positions,” band director Steve Wessels said. “Only three percent of these students actually receive the honor of making it.”
Two of these students, Cortes and Regester, placed first chair in the competitions against other students who play the same instrument as them. For some of these students, it was their second time making the All-State Band. Other band students who participated also did well, placing in the upper half of their competition. These students include seniors Aiden Case, Jacob Geesin and William Yeager and sophomores Connor Walsh and Taylor Williams.
Although some students did not place in the All-state Band from Area D, Wessels says that Cedar Park’s Area students could easily win over students from the other Areas.
“This is unarguably the hardest Area in the state of Texas for students to compete,” Wessels said. “Band programs from the Austin, Houston and Dallas areas are put together to form this Area.”
The students who were accepted into the All-State Band will participate in the TMEA convention in San Antonio on Feb. 16. They will be learning high-level music during a three day span of the convention, and then will be performing in a concert on the fourth day.