Mark of Excellence Awarded to 4 MISD Ensembles

McKinney ISD takes great pride in the reputation and success of its fine arts programs. Band, orchestra, choir, theatre and visual arts students—individually and collectively—accumulate accolades each year that build upon and contribute to the district’s legacy of excellence in fine arts instruction.

This year, four MISD musical ensembles have contributed to that legacy by earning distinguished recognition from the prestigious Foundation for Music Education, a national organization that recognizes and awards outstanding achievement in performance by high school and middle school bands, choirs and orchestras—at the national level with the Mark of Excellence program and among Texas high school non-varsity bands with the Citation of Excellence program.

“The Mark of Excellence is interesting because it’s a national contest,” says McKinney ISD Director of Fine Arts Dan White. “This is really the one and only contest where all of these recordings from groups across the nation are brought together, and an adjudicator compares your performance with that body of entries.

“We’ve had one or two groups each year that have won Mark of Excellence recognition, but to have three within one year is pretty phenomenal,” he says. “And, then in addition, to receive Citation of Excellence honors within the state is remarkable as well. The competition among Texas districts is very tough.”

The winning groups to which White makes reference are the Dowell Middle School Wind Ensemble and the Faubion Middle School Honors Orchestra, which have each been named 2018 National Winners—the top recognition—in the Mark of Excellence program, and the McKinney Boyd High School Consortium Orchestra, which has been named a 2018 Commended Winner in the Mark of Excellence. Two-hundred seventy-nine ensembles from 38 states entered the Mark of Excellence competition this year in five categories.

In addition, the McKinney North High School Symphonic Band has earned top recognition from the Foundation at the state level as a Citation of Excellence Winner for 2018. The Citation of Excellence, now in its fourth year, is a competition for Texas high school non-varsity bands in which the top ensembles are selected as Citation Winners.

Each of the awards was based upon performances submitted last spring to the Foundation and adjudicated by a distinguished professional. While some of the musicians on those recordings have moved on to high school or have graduated, the remaining members carry on with new additions to their respective ensembles.

In a letter to the district, Mark of Excellence Executive Director Alan Hanna congratulates the MISD Fine Arts department.

“These McKinney ISD ensembles are wonderful examples of musical achievement and are a tremendous credit to your school district,” he writes.

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