A Music Education project, named “Mark of Excellence National Percussion Ensemble Honors”, awarded the Percussion Ensemble as a Commended winner, making them the only high school percussion ensemble in the country to be given this distinction this year, out of 229 ensemble entries from 36 states across America.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Percussion Ensemble Director Robert Brannock said. “I think it reinforces the culture that we’ve developed here in the percussion program, such as good musicians, striving for excellence and I think it’s just further proof that we’re on the right track.”

The ensemble competes as a whole as well as providing individual recognition. Sophomore Amaya Herrington-Alexander and senior Annie Heffley were selected out of thousands of students across Texas as two of the highest performing instrumental soloists at a state contest in August.

“I always get really nervous before I audition, but I thought it was a really good experience,” Heffley said. “It’s always good to perform in front of people. Overall, it was great.”

This recognition is given to students that show high levels of experience and/or dedication at the competition.

“It’s amazing,” Principal Dan Ford said. “Whether it’s one student or a hundred, it’s always wonderful to know your students can achieve at this level. It’s an amazing accomplishment, and we’re proud of them.”

The Percussion Ensemble will compete with the Drumline at the Percussion Arts Society International Convention in November.

“It’s one of the biggest Percussion events in the world, and they’ll be competing with all kinds of groups from all over,” Brannock said.

The convention invites top schools from across the nation with promising musical talent.

“We’ve [also] recently been invited to go to the National Percussion Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is a big deal for us,’’ Brannock said. Varsity Percussion leaves for the National Percussion Festival in Indiana in March 2016.