West Plains HS band earns prestigious award, Canyon among finalists

West Plains High School was named the State Honor Band in the Texas Music Educators Association 4A competition over nine other schools that made the state finalists last Thursday, making it the first high school in the Canyon Independent School District (CISD) since 2005 to win the award.

This marked the district's third school to win the award in CISD history, with Canyon High School winning it in 1970 and 2005. The competition takes place biannually, and the winning schools are unable to compete in the next competition. West Plains High School was also the first Texas Panhandle school to win the coveted honor since Canadian High School in 2011.

Among the more than 200 Texas 4A schools, 43 submitted recordings for the competition. These recordings are listened to by judges with no school's name attached to them to allow for an even playing field without bias. West Plains High School received 13 out of 15 first-place votes throughout all preliminary and final rounds. The recordings by West Plains High School, directed by Heath Nall, of the “Florentiner March” and “La Fiesta Mexicana” all received first-place votes. Canyon High School had three recordings place in the top 10 of competitors.

Chris Hawkins, the coordinator for fine arts and advanced academics for Canyon ISD, spoke about West Plains High School's achievement.

“In the state of Texas, there are two events that show you are a champion of above all in your classification. One is the state marching contest, and the other is the state honor band competition,” he said. “Honor Band is a concert band contest that encompasses only the varsity ensemble. It is considered in many ways more prestigious than the marching band concert, because you have to come up with a recording that you can submit to make it through all the rounds with no do-over.”

Hawkins said that West Plain’s recording had to go through three sets of judges and 15 total judges, with 13 naming them the top band. In the preliminary rounds, West Plains High School received every first-place vote, and three of the five judges in the final round chose them as the top band.

“This is such a tremendous honor and achievement for the West Plains High School Band in its third year of existence,” he said. “Many times, a lot of the rankings will change substantially with each round, but West Plains came in first place each time. No matter how long West Plains has been having a band, this honor would be a monumental achievement. This achievement is akin to a lightning strike.”

Hawkins stressed that Nall, the band director, was building on the great teachers these students had previously as they moved through the school band system.

“We are aware that, in addition to the great teaching that happened here, that these students received a high-quality music education in the other school clusters before the West Plains cluster existed," he said. “You never go into honor band assuming that you are going to win it, and when you win, it's just indescribable."

Results of the Texas Music Educators Association 4A HS Varsity Category:● 1st Place: West Plains HS, Florentiner March — Heath Nall, Director● 1st Place: West Plains HS, La Fiesta Mexicana — Heath Nall, Director● 4th Place: Canyon HS, American Salute — Eric Rath, Director● 5th Place: Canyon HS, Solid Men to the Front — Eric Rath, Director● 9th Place: Canyon HS, Aurora Awakes — Eric Rath, Director

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: West Plains HS of Canyon ISD named Texas State Honor Band