Music
The Plano West Chamber Orchestra has been named the outstanding string orchestra for the state of Texas by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) 5 consecutive times. Directed by Mrs. Jo Wallace-Abbie, the orchestra is made up of approximately 40 musicians. TMEA rules prohibit a school from entering the competition the year after it has won, so the title of Texas "Honor Orchestra" was won in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. The orchestra has been featured on the Disney Channel series "Totally in Tune" which aired in 2001. In 2005, the orchestra won a Cappie Award for Outstanding Pit Orchestra in a musical, (for the school production of) Les Misérables.
The Plano West Mighty Wolf Band has a marching and concert season and also has a winterguard program. In the 2009–2010 school year, the band had approximately 95 members; by 2012-2013, this had increased to about 140. The band's 2009 Marching show was "Rising Dragons" by Robert W. Smith; in 2010-2011 it was "The Natural" (based on the movie of the same name), in 2011-2012 it was "Global Illuminations," and in 2012-2013 it was "Postcards from Texas."
In 2011, The Plano West Music Program was named 'Gold' GRAMMY® Signature School. Plano West was one of only seven "Gold" level award recipients. The award recognizes top U.S. public high schools making an outstanding commitment to music education.
Read more about this topic: Plano West Senior High School
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Yes; as the music changes,
Like a prismatic glass,
It takes the light and ranges
Through all the moods that pass;”
—Alfred Noyes (1880–1958)
“As polishing expresses the vein in marble, and grain in wood, so music brings out what of heroic lurks anywhere. The hero is the sole patron of music.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.... Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
—Harper Lee (b. 1926)