Months after the process of participating in Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) competitions first began, two students on campus, alto saxophone junior Samrat Baiju and Baritone Saxophone player senior Noel Benny have become All-State Awardees, which is the highest-level achievement among all the TMEA awards. 

“Samrat and Noel were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held across the state at the district, region, and area levels,” band director Ana Hinojosa Santi said. “The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only 3% of the musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians. We are so proud that Samrat and Noel will be representing the Liberty Band at the TMEA convention in February.” 

Upon finding out about this achievement, Benny is happy that his hard work has gotten him these results. 

“I feel great,” Benny said. “I am super thankful for this opportunity and that all my hard work over the past few months paid off.” 

Baiju practiced diligently for the various auditions he took part in. 

“I spent a lot of time on just taking it slow and making sure my fingers were hitting the right keys on time,” Baiju said. 

A favorite memory surrounding this whole process took place after Benny’s area audition. 

“The most memorable experience I had was coming out of the recording satisfied with my performance,” he said. “Although I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it, I was proud of my performance and all the hard work I had put in, which is difficult for most musicians in a competition.”