McAllen ISD music students earn 7 All-State positions

McAllen ISD has seven students who have earned All-State honors in three music programs this year.

This includes four students in choir, one in band and two in mariachi. They are part of a prestigious group representing less than three percent of music students who auditioned across Texas.

The choir students include Trip Shirah (Large School Mixed Choir, McAllen High), James Humphrey (Large School Mixed Choir, James “Nikki’ Rowe High), Lauren Rodriguez (Treble Choir, Rowe High) and Diana Nguyen (Treble Choir, Rowe High).

Paul Morales (Class 6A Symphonic Band, Tenor Trombone, McAllen High) earned All-State recognition along with Antonio Gamez-Cuellar (Mariachi Ensemble, Trumpet, McAllen High) and Caleb Arellano (Mariachi Ensemble, Violin, McAllen High).

Shirah, Humphrey and Rodriguez all repeated as All-State music students. In fact, Humphrey and Rodriguez earned All-State honors for the third time.

“This echoes the quality of our music programs across McAllen ISD,” Fine Arts Director Debra Loya said. “Texas has a reputation for having some of the best high school music programs in the nation and, as a result, some of its most highly skilled performers. Congratulations to our hard-working students and their directors.”

This marks the 46th straight year that multiple students from McAllen ISD have earned All-State recognition in music.

All-State music students performed February 15 in San Antonio as part of the 2025 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.

McAllen ISD has been named a national Best Community for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants for 12 straight years.

Students were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels.

Texas Music Educators Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition. This competitive process begins throughout the state in auditions hosted by 33 TMEA Regions. Individual musicians perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument or voice part. From this ranking, a select group of musicians advances from their Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only the top 2.6% of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.

About McAllen ISD
McAllen ISD is a three-time winner of the state’s highest rating, an “A,” and a four-time winner of the state’s Post-Secondary Readiness Distinction. In 2022, McAllen ISD was named the Best Large District in Texas through the H-E-B Excellence in Education awards. The district is home to 31 campuses and approximately 20,000 students. To learn more about McAllen ISD’s schools and programs, contact Student Outreach at 956-687-MISD (6473).

About TMEA
Since 1920, Texas Music Educators Association has worked to ensure excellence in music education for all Texas students. TMEA’s 19,800 members include more than 13,800 school music educators who belong to one of five TMEA Divisions: Band, Orchestra, Vocal, Elementary, and College. Members elect Vice-Presidents to their Division to guide the Division’s programming. On behalf of its members and Texas students, TMEA monitors the actions of state decision-making bodies on issues affecting fine arts instruction in Texas. In addition to many member benefits, TMEA offers professional development for its members through workshops and its annual Clinic/Convention that hosts more than 30,000 attendees. TMEA supports the future of music education by offering scholarships to music education majors and sponsoring the Texas Future Music Educators, an organization through which high school students interested in careers in music education learn more about what to expect in their college education and future careers.