Texas Music Educators Association
Encyclopedia
Texas Music Educators Association, or TMEA, is an organization of over 9,000 Texas
school music
educators. Its stated goals are to provide professional growth opportunities, to encourage interaction among music education
professionals, to foster public support for music in school
s, to offer quality musical experiences for students, to cultivate universal appreciation and lifetime involvement in music, and to develop and maintain productive working relationships with other professional organizations.
and Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB)
. The audition music is announced at the yearly Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) convention in San Antonio, usually in July.
Auditions are held at the region level during the fall of each year to determine All-City, All-District and All-Region groups. Most regions host a public concert of their All-Region bands, orchestras and choirs to provide a performance clinic for the selected musicians and to showcase the students' musicianship.
Top ranked musicians from each region advance to their respective All-Area auditions. The All-Area groups serve to reduce the number of participants considered for All-State and therefore do not have a performance component as do the All-Region groups.
A final audition is held among the top All-Area musicians to decide membership in the All-State groups. Student musicians selected for an All-State group are invited to attend the annual TMEA convention and participate in a performance clinic and concert. The All-State groups include the following:
, TMEA was expelled as the state affiliate largely due to policy disputes over compulsory MENC membership in 1975. Essentially, at the time of federated status, TMEA members had the option to join TMEA without paying dues to MENC. MENC found this arrangement untenable and urged TMEA to revise its constitution to require all TMEA members to pay full MENC dues and affiliate with MENC. This question was repeatedly put before TMEA membership who rejected it in ballot after ballot. MENC officially expelled TMEA, what would have been and would remain today its largest affiliated organization, on June 30, 1975. TMEA assisted MENC in the creation of the "Texas Music Educators Conference," to be a Texas MENC affiliate. Prior to the expulsion, over 1000 TMEA members voluntarily maintained MENC membership, however in its first report to MENC, the newly formed TMEC claimed only 99 members statewide.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
school music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
educators. Its stated goals are to provide professional growth opportunities, to encourage interaction among music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
professionals, to foster public support for music in school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, to offer quality musical experiences for students, to cultivate universal appreciation and lifetime involvement in music, and to develop and maintain productive working relationships with other professional organizations.
All-State
TMEA is responsible for auditions into and concerts of Texas's All-Region and All-State bands, orchestras and choirs. It uses the same region classifications as the University Interscholastic League (UIL)University Interscholastic League
The University Interscholastic League is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, music, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the American state of Texas....
and Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB)
Association of Texas Small School Bands
Created in 1991, ATSSB is an organization dedicated to promoting the interests of small school bands in the state of Texas. The focus of ATSSB is on serving the needs of small school band students, directors, parents, and administrators. ATSSB meets twice each year in General Session - once in...
. The audition music is announced at the yearly Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) convention in San Antonio, usually in July.
Auditions are held at the region level during the fall of each year to determine All-City, All-District and All-Region groups. Most regions host a public concert of their All-Region bands, orchestras and choirs to provide a performance clinic for the selected musicians and to showcase the students' musicianship.
Top ranked musicians from each region advance to their respective All-Area auditions. The All-Area groups serve to reduce the number of participants considered for All-State and therefore do not have a performance component as do the All-Region groups.
A final audition is held among the top All-Area musicians to decide membership in the All-State groups. Student musicians selected for an All-State group are invited to attend the annual TMEA convention and participate in a performance clinic and concert. The All-State groups include the following:
List of Texas All-State Groups
- Symphonic Band
- Concert Band
- Jazz Band
- Symphony Orchestra
- Philharmonic Orchestra
- String Orchestra
- Mixed Choir
- Women's Choir
- Men's Choir
- TTCCDA Choir
- ATSSB Symphonic Band
- ATSSB Concert Band
- ATSSB Jazz Band
Clinic/Convention
TMEA hosts an annual convention in San Antonio during the month of February. The convention's main attractions are workshops that qualify as continuing education credit for music teachers, an exhibition show for the music industry and concerts by many honor and invited groups. Concerts performed by the All-State groups provide a finale for the convention.Southwestern Musician
Southwestern Musician is an official publication of TMEA. Content includes various articles on music education and information about TMEA events and operations. Nine issues are published during the school year.History
Once an affiliate of MENC: The National Association for Music EducationMENC: The National Association for Music Education
MENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...
, TMEA was expelled as the state affiliate largely due to policy disputes over compulsory MENC membership in 1975. Essentially, at the time of federated status, TMEA members had the option to join TMEA without paying dues to MENC. MENC found this arrangement untenable and urged TMEA to revise its constitution to require all TMEA members to pay full MENC dues and affiliate with MENC. This question was repeatedly put before TMEA membership who rejected it in ballot after ballot. MENC officially expelled TMEA, what would have been and would remain today its largest affiliated organization, on June 30, 1975. TMEA assisted MENC in the creation of the "Texas Music Educators Conference," to be a Texas MENC affiliate. Prior to the expulsion, over 1000 TMEA members voluntarily maintained MENC membership, however in its first report to MENC, the newly formed TMEC claimed only 99 members statewide.