Liberty Students see Mark Wood

Liberty Orchestra students attended the Garland ISD Orchestra Concert featuring Mark Wood on September 18 at the Garland Special Events Center. Nine students and several parents were treated to performances by Austin Academy students from 3 levels: 6th grade orchestra, 7th grade orchestra and 8th grade orchestra.

Mark Wood was in command of each group while the GISD Orchestra staff watched from the floor.  He was entertaining and inspiring as he performed and promoted music education.  The target audience for this concert was definitely the JH crowd.  The students were very animated as they watched and participated in this show.

BHS Students make All State

Making an All State Orchestra is one of the highest individual honors that a music student can achieve. This year, BHS has two students that have attained this honor - Stacy Yuan, viola and Samuel Lee, cello. Both students were selected through a competitive audition for the Symphony Orchestra, the top performing group. This is Stacy's third consecutive year to make All State and Samuel's fourth. Only a handful of students each year get honored as four year All State students. Stacy and Samuel will rehearse and prepare for a concert with the All State Symphony Orchestra in February at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio. Also of special note, Carol Liu and Christine Lin are alternates and may still get a chance to perform with an All State group at TMEA.

BHS Cluster students do well at Region

All Region Auditions were held at Pearce HS on October 20, 2007. Twenty nine students from Berkner, Apollo, and Liberty earned spots in the respective Region Orchestras. These students will have the honor of performing with the Region Orchestras on December 14-15, 2007 also at Pearce HS. Click here to see the results.

Professional Conductor comes to work with BHS Orchestras

Jeff Grogan, Conductor in Residence for the New Jersey Symphony, will be working with 3 of the BHS Orchestras on Friday, September 28, 2007. Mr. Grogan is a Texas native and will be doing clinics with the Symphony, Freshmen, and Philharmonic Orchestras in preparation for our Fall Concert on October 16. We are honored to have Mr. Grogan at Berkner to work with our Orchestras.

Apollo JH Full Orchestra Invited to perform at TMEA!

The Apollo Junior High Full Orchestra has been invited through a competitive process to perform at the 2008 Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio, Texas. This is the first time that a Junior High Full Orchestra from Richardson has ever been invited to perform at TMEA. The Texas Music Educators Association hosts Honor Orchestra Competitions for High School String, High School Full, MS/JH String, and invites one MS/JH Full Orchestra each year to perform at the annual TMEA Convention in February. Apollo was selected through a competitive process by submitting a recording that was judged against other groups by a panel of Orchestra directors from around the state. The Apollo Full Orchestra is made up of students from the top performing Band and Orchestra and meet, primarily in the Spring, for extra rehearsals in preparation for performances. The Full Orchestra is directed by Band Director Robin Owens and Orchestra Director Lynne Thornton. This is the second time in Mrs. Thornton's career to have a group selected to perform at TMEA. In 1990, the Strickland JHS Orchestra from Denton, Tx was selected as the TMEA JH/MS Honor Orchestra under her direction. This is the 4th time an Orchestra from Apollo has been selected to perform at TMEA and the Apollo Band has performed three other times at TMEA as well. Congratulations to the Apollo Full Orchestra!

Berkner Symphony places 5th in State Competition!

Coming off of its sucessful TMEA String Honor Orchestra performance last February in San Antonio, the BHS Symphony Full Orchestra placed 5th in the High School Full Orchestra competition. This is the first time that a winning String Honor Orchestra has ever made the Full Orchestra finals in the same year. Because of the TMEA String performance in February, 2007, the BHS Symphony Full Orchestra only had 21/2 weeks to prepare their Full Orchestra program (usually a 7-8 week process). The recording made at their UIL performance on March 6, 2007, is the recording that was submitted for the Full Orchestra contest. The Full Orchestra is made up of students from the top performing band and orchestra and meets outside of the school day in preparation for performances. This is the second consecutive year that the Full Orchestra, directed by Craig Needham, has made the Honor Orchestra Finals. Congratulations to the BHS Symphony Full Orchestra!

BHS Symphony Invited to perform for RISD Convocation

Coming off of one of the most successful years in BHS Orchestra history, the BHS Symphony has been invited to perform at RISD's annual District Convocation. This is only the second time that a High School Orchestra has been invited to perform at the annual event which is attened by every teacher, administrator, and support staff in the district. Convocation is August 23, 2007, 9:00 a.m. at the Garland Events Center. Click here for more information.