At Northland Christian, we have The Texas Private School Music Educators Association known as TPSMEA. The TPSMEA is an organization with over two hundred private schools promoting their education in music. TPSMEA has four sections, Band, Orchestra, Vocals, and Elementary. This year at Northland we have three students in Orchestra who made it to the TPSMEA and some students in Choir who had made it. I interviewed Mrs. Luedeke who went to All-State with her students and this is her opinion on this trip!

What do you do at the TPSMEA?

Mrs. Luedeke said, “For directors and teachers, it is an opportunity to share resources and collaborate as professionals. The organization itself has different contests and opportunities for students to experience higher level opportunities in music. So for Choir, they have contests and site reading where they have three pieces of music that you present to the judges and they give you scores.”

How many students made it in the TPSMEA?

“The Choir had 200 students, the Orchestra had a total of fifty and they have the Band which probably makes another fifty. The Jazz Band was probably 20 students for the all-state ensembles. That’s All-State, All-State is the top one to get in to. It’s the final choir to get into. Three hundred students make into Region, but that a smaller area for Choir. In the Choir area, out of the 200 students who made it, it was probably out of a thousand people who auditioned,” said Mrs. Luedeke.

How did All-State go?

Mrs. Luedeke went on to say, “It was really really fun. The kids, the students get to work with world renown directors and they get to perform with other students. It was a fun bonding time! The concert was absolutely phenomenal. From the Choir perspective, there were many moments that moved me to tears. The director this year has the ability to connect or just to encourage a real emotional connection to the music, so I know the students were playing from their heart. When they actually performed they had little portions they actually speak before the performance to give the story behind the song, so you can connect while they were singing it. It was probably the most moving All-State Choir performace I have ever been to.”

Mrs. Luedeke even wrote an article about the trip and her experience, “What a very fun weekend for our TPSMEA All-State Choir members! Hudson Flowers and Ian Wietstruck’s first year to make it, Marly Grace Rogers’ third year to make it and Jack Farrell’s fourth year to make it to the All-State Choir. Jack was recognized at the concert, along with three other students who made the choir all four years of high school…The boys got to work with a Texas Tech doctoral candidate from Uganda who talked them through their African freedom song, “Tshotsoloza” and the meaning behind it. The girls got to FaceTime with the arranger of their haunting piece, “No Time,” which also had a unique impact on them. Dr. Carolyn Cruse, the All-State Choir conductor from Texas Tech University, shared with the students that she had grown up in the Houston area, and never actually made it to the Texas All-State Choir in her time in high school, so her being asked to be director of an All-State ensemble just goes to show that anyone can do anything they set their hearts and minds to.”