Forty-one Mt. Pleasant Junior High School band students have qualified for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region IV Middle School All-Region Band, a school record. Twenty-six students qualified for the Symphonic Band and fifteen qualified for the Concert Band.

Ten students earned 1st chair, essentially 1st place in their category. Eight of those earned 1st chair in the Symphonic Band: Karli Hill on Flute, Shpat Zeqaj on Oboe, Manoa Bagsic on Bb Clarinet, Kayla Jackson on Bass Clarinet, Hannah Bowles on Contr-Bass Clarinet, Ezequiel Castaneda on Alto Saxophone, Clinton Debord on Trumpet, and David Macareno on Trombone.  Javier Vazquez earned 1st chair on Baritone Saxophone and Luis Garcia earned 1st chair on Trombone in the Concert Band.

This is the largest number of students to earn 1st chairs in the history of the MPJH Band program!  MPJHS also earned more 1st chairs than all the participating schools!

“I am so proud of all the MPJH students who auditioned for the All-Region bands,” said MPJHS Band Director Karen Luckett.  “We took 61 students to Pine Tree JH School for the auditions. Out of 61 students, 41 of them earned chairs in the All-Region bands! All of these students put in an extensive amount of time and effort to prepare for these auditions. We have been preparing for them since the second day of school. I am so ecstatic that so many of them auditioned. I congratulate all of these students whether they made the All-Region bands or not.”

Students who qualified for the All-Region Bands include:

Flute Symphonic Band:  Karli Hill, 1st chair; Madison Thompson, 6th chair; Gracie McClendon, 9th chair
Flute Concert Band:  Lourdes Tovar, 5th chair; Bianca Quistian, 12th chair
Oboe Symphonic Band:  Shpat Zeqaj, 1st chair
Bb Clarinet Symphonic Band:  Manoa Bagsic, 1st chair; Andrew Perez, 6th chair; Juanita Gutierrez, 7th chair; Jose Fuentes, 11th chair; Viridiana Portillo, 13th chair
Bb Clarinet Concert Band:  Kaitlyn Reese, 7th chair; Derek Arrington, 8th chair; Jacqueline Reyes, 9th chair
Bass Clarinet Symphonic Band:  Kayla Jackson, 1st chair; Angel Nava, 2nd chair
Contra-Bass Clarinet Symphonic Band:  Hannah Bowles, 1st chair
Alto Saxophone Symphonic Band:  Ezequiel Castaneda, 1st chair; Brian Ayala, 2nd chair
Alto Saxophone Concert Band:  Maria Sauceda, 6th chair
Baritone Saxophone Concert Band:  Javier Vazquez, 1st chair
Trumpet Symphonic Band:  Clinton Debord, 1st chair; Madison Carpenter, 3rd chair; Orion Senence, 4th chair; Dana Memije, 6th chair; Nayeli Palacios, 10th chair
French Horn Symphonic Band:  Cesar Gonzalez, 2nd chair; DeAndre Galloway, 6th chair
French Horn Concert Band:  Marcela Mata, 2nd chair; Fernando Robles, 4th chair
Trombone Symphonic Band:  David Macareno, 1st chair
Trombone Concert Band:  Luis Garcia, 1st chair; Yadeline Perez, 3rd chair; Oscar Castellanos, 8th chair; Eli Rider, 9th chair
Baritone Symphonic Band:  Sebastian Campos, 2nd chair; Daniel Garcia, 4th chair
Baritone Concert Band:  Victor Olvera, 4th chair
Tuba Symphonic Band:  Edgar Arias, 2nd chair; Juan Serna, 3rd chair
Percussion Concert Band:  Hector Rocha, 7th chair.

The 41 Mt. Pleasant Junior High All-Region Bands members, along with those who made the High School Jazz and Freshman All- Region bands will perform in the TMEA Region IV Middle School/Freshman/Jazz Clinic & Concert on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Paris Junior High School in Paris, Texas.

Pictured: The MPJHS All-Region Band members.