Saturday was a defining day for twenty students in the Central Area of Texas (extending from the top of the panhandle to the north Houston/Austin areas). The preparation of two students, Kaleb Hook and Parker Fautt from Wortham High School, along with their audition and sight-singing skills, advanced them into the prestigious Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State Choir for Small Schools, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A.
Parker and Kaleb are seniors in the choir program at Wortham under the direction of Mrs. Linda Ferris. Their selection as members of the 2019 ensemble includes them as two of twenty-eight tenors that will sing in San Antonio at the 2019 TMEA Convention under the direction of Jeffery Ames from Belmont University where he serves as Director of Choral Activities. His prior appointments include Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University and Director of Choral Activities at Edgewater HS and Lincoln HS in Florida.
As a choral clinician, Ames has conducted senior and junior high school mixed and male choirs at the state and regional ACDA conventions and the Music Educator’s National Conference, including the inaugural Florida Male All-State Chorus (2005). He has performed internationally in Italy and Costa Rica. An accomplished accompanist, he has performed with well-known conductors such as André Thomas, Allen Crowell, Dan Krunnfusz, Lynne Gackle, and Bradley Ellingboe and with Anton Armstrong and the 2007 Texas All-State Mixed Choir.
With a growing reputation as a distinguished and well-respected composer and arranger, Ames’s music has been premiered by the Florida Music Educators Association, the Florida American Choral Directors Association, and the Southern Division of ACDA and at National ACDA Conferences. His compositions and arrangements are published by Colla Voce, Earthsongs, Santa Barbara Music, and Walton Music.
Fautt and Hook were top winners Saturday for their advancement. They have both participated in Wortham’s and the Ferris Studio’s vocal and keyboard competition events since their elementary years, winning previous talent show, Texas Federation of Music Clubs All-State vocalist auditions (becoming All-State Winners in the Art Song, Patriotic and Folk Song and Ensemble Categories), and in 2018 they achieved the highest scores in the UIL State Solo & Ensemble events.
Mrs. Ferris has been teaching vocal and keyboard music privately and publicly since 1983 in the Limestone and Freestone County Areas. Many of her graduating seniors have gone on to become professional musicians and performers, earning scholarship and higher degrees in the field. One of her missions is to prepare and take her students …..beyond the walls (Bobby McFerrin)…..
She is currently preparing eleven local elementary students for the 2019 North Texas Children’s Choir concert that will take place in the Meyerson Symphony Hall on Saturday, February 2nd.
