Editor: Shannon Cottongame
January 18, 2023
Jonah Cottongame, a member of the Whitney High School Band, will perform with the Texas All-State Concert Band in San Antonio Saturday, February 11, at the Henry B. González Convention Center as part of the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.
Cottongame was chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at district, region and area levels. This is his second time to perform as a member of the TMEA all-state organization. Last year, he made school history by becoming the first WHS percussionist to make the all-state band.
Cottongame performs at Whitney High School under the direction of Josh Nowlin and Michael Wilson, who are members of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 14,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin.
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. In total, 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 and 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 http://www.tmea.org/convention.
Cottongame is a junior at Whitney High School and is the son of Seth and Shannon Cottongame.
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