13 Viper musicians are part of 6A All-State Band

Ryan Hogarth

Vandegrift Viper band students break a school record by having 13 students named to the Texas Music Educators Association Area 6A All-State Band.

“Our Viper Band students have done it again… they have set a new standard for our band program with their performances in the TMEA Area E Band Auditions,” Mike Howard, VHS director of bands.

Becoming a TMEA 6A All-State Band Student is the highest honor that a high school musician can attain and places these students in the top 2% of band student-musicians in Texas. 

The Area E Audition is made up of the top high school musicians from Central Texas including Austin and the northwestern surrounding area, San Antonio and the northern surrounding area, and all areas in-between. 

All 20 students who advanced to this round in mid January worked hard to dig in and continue working on their audition material through the holidays, Howard said.

“They all represented Vandegrift at the highest level,” Howard added. “I’m very proud of how all of our area audition students persevered through a difficult recording process (and a pandemic) to continue to ‘Define the Standard’ for our program.”

Eleven Viper students placed into the TMEA 6A All-State Band, a new record for VHS, adding to the two students who placed into the TMEA All-State Jazz Band.

“This shattered the previous record of five students,” Howard said. 

All-State Band Vipers

  • Ella Jones – Flute (FIRST CHAIR)
  • Nicole Imming – Flute
  • Ryan Ha – Oboe
  • Brooke Stewart – Clarinet
  • Karis Hu – Clarinet
  • Sangjune Lee – Clarinet
  • Ryan Hogarth – Clarinet
  • Hayden Grier – Bass Clarinet
  • Inbo Shim – Alto Saxophone (FIRST CHAIR)
  • Amaan Syed – Tenor Trombone (FIRST CHAIR)
  • Noah Sabbavarapu – Tenor Trombone
  • Eric Parmelee – Alto Saxophone (All-State Jazz)
  • Noah Levine – Guitar (All-State Jazz)