Area student selected as Texas All-State Musician

Special to the News-Times

Luc ButlerLuc Butler, a member of the Coldspring-Oakhurst High School Band, will perform with the Texas All-State Band in San Antonio on Feb. 11 at the Henry B. González Convention Center as part of the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.

Luc was chosen for this honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at district, region, and area levels. Luc plays clarinet at school under the direction of Trent Graves, who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 14,000-plus member organization headquartered in Austin.

This is Luc’s second time performing as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. This is also his second instrument with which to achieve this honor.

Luc is the grandson of Suzanne Butler.

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 percent of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.

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.