Choir and Band All-State Auditions

For students at Second Baptist School, the arts department is a special place to explore, grow and learn through various creative endeavors. From planting seeds in lower school music classes, to participating in upper school band and choir competitions, the opportunities for students to flourish under the guidance of our talented faculty are limitless.

This last weekend as part of the Association of Texas Small School Bands, two SBS students traveled to audition for the All-State band.

“I was able to take Ty Strickland ‘20 and Caden Cooper ‘20 to the ATSSB area level auditions for the All-State Honor Band process at Robinson High School in Waco, Texas. This is one-fifth of the state of Texas for us,” said Band Director Kendel Hickenbottom.  

Ty, who plays alto sax, placed sixth at the auditions and Caden, who plays percussion, placed ninth. For the whole state of Texas, this places Ty in the top 30 alto saxes and Caden in the top 45 drummers. This was the first year SBS has taken students to the audition.

Ty went on his own last year! Of this year's experience, he said, “It feels really cool to have made it this far for the second year in a row! I’m happy with the auditions I gave and I think I grew a lot as a musician. Hopefully in the next few years, we have many more people auditioning.”

“I am so very proud of them and their accomplishments,” said Mr. Hickenbottom. “This is an amazing accomplishment out of the thousands of students who started the process.”

The SBS choir had an exciting weekend as well with nine students attending the third and final rounds of Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State Small School Choir Auditions. Students have worked hard to prepare for this since the start of the school year, mastering seven different pieces to showcase their strengths as performers and knowledge of music.

“This group of students was such a joy to work with. They came in for lessons after school each week, studied and listened to their music on their own,” said Choir Director Becky Martin. “I could not be more proud of them. The process has made them stronger singers and better musicians.”

Coming home with exciting news, Grace Lunsford ‘22 was named first alternate for sopranos. And a huge congratulations to Caroline Bolling ‘21, who was selected to the choir as the number one alto from the South area. This honor means that she will perform at the TMEA All-State Festival in San Antonio in February.

“I felt really blessed to be there, and I knew that my hard work had paid off,” said Caroline. “I know that I couldn’t have done it without everyone who auditioned at SBS who supported me, Ms. Martin who taught me everything about choir and the Lord for giving me this opportunity to share Him through my talent!”

Join us in congratulating these hard-working students on their accomplishments!