Congratulations to Colleyville Middle School, Heritage Middle School and Grapevine High School wind ensembles for being named Medal of Distinction Maestro Award National Winners as part of a contest to recognize the most outstanding school music programs in the country. The groups are under the direction of Lauren Jones, Josh Smith and James Rees, respectively.
Ensembles from across the country compete by submitting recordings that are adjudicated in two rounds by nationally-recognized educators and conductors. The top 15 percent are named national winners and awarded the Maestro distinction. As Maestro honorees, the three ensembles will participate in a clinic with a Medal of Distinction evaluator. As an honoree in 2024, CMS received a visit from Col. Jason Fetting, former conductor of the United States Marine Band and former Music Advisor to the President of the United States.
GCISD ensembles, competing in the non-varsity category, also received top honors:
Medal of Distinction (awarded to the top 25 percent of non-varsity ensembles):
Colleyville Middle School Symphonic Band, under the direction of Joey Prescott
Colleyville Heritage High School Symphonic Band, under the direction of Karson Beer
Grapevine High School Honors Band, under the direction of William Redd
Performance of Distinction (awarded to the top 50 percent of non-varsity ensembles)
Heritage Middle School Symphonic Band, under the direction of Brenda Hinton