56 Allen ISD string players earn TMEA all-region orchestra seats; 30 advance toward All-State

Allen ISD string players took a third of the seats in this year's Region 25 high school orchestras, the district said this week.

According to Allen ISD, about 490 students auditioned on Oct. 3 for 168 spots in the Texas Music Educators Association region orchestras, and 56 of the musicians selected came from Allen High School and Lowery Freshman Center. Thirty of those students also advanced to the next round of TMEA's All-State competition.

Students at the auditions competed against players from Lovejoy, Plano, Sherman and Wylie ISDs. Each played prepared etudes and musical excerpts for a panel of judges, the district said.

Two orchestras, one concert

The selected players were placed in the region's Philharmonic and Symphony orchestras. At Lowery Freshman Center, 11 musicians made the cut, eight in the Philharmonic and three in the Symphony. Allen High School placed 45 students, 21 in the Philharmonic and 24 in the Symphony. Most of the All-State advancers came from the Symphony group.

The musicians will rehearse with a guest clinician alongside students from across the region before a concert on Saturday, Dec. 12, at Plano ISD's Robinson Fine Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public.

Manufacturing Day tours

In separate news from the district, Allen ISD students toured local manufacturing sites for Manufacturing Day, visiting All Metals Fabricating, Nordson, IntelliEPI, KONE, FlexLink and EagleNXT. The district said company staff talked with students about careers in engineering, production, automation, robotics, quality control and equipment maintenance. The Allen Economic Development Corporation and Elke's provided lunch.

Sources

allenisd.org

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