Saturday, January 9th, five Dragon Band members earned a trip to the state level by receiving the top scores in their sections at the Area Band Competition in Abilene.  These students will travel along with Braden Walter, who has already been selected as the 1st chair alto sax in the All State Jazz Band, to tryout with students around the state for positions in the All State Concert Bands and All State Orchestras.  This contest, along with the clinics and concerts will be held in conjunction with the TMEA Convention in San Antonio on February 10th - 13th.

The area competition was dominated by our Region 24 which continues to remind us how difficult it is to make it out of our region to Area.  The five students are:

Ashley Wang - 1st chair flute - Senior
Michael Keane - 2nd chair bassoon - Senior and 2nd year member
Brice Thomas - 1st chair tuba - Junior and 3rd year member
Seth Shaffer - 3rd chair tuba - Senior
Taylor White - 7th chair trumpet - Sophomore - 1st year member as choir and 2nd year trumpet

Rachael Brown, Junior, made 16th chair out of 39 on Bb clarinet.  They only take 9 clarinet students so she did not advance, but did an outstanding job and will benefit from the experience which should help her next year.

Please congratulate these students on an outstanding job.