James Mick, assistant professor of music education, traveled to Dallas this past December to guest conduct the Region 25 Philharmonic Orchestra. The repertoire included works by Berlioz, Bach, and Gershwin. The culminating performance occurred on December 13, 2015 at the recently built $25 million Allen High School Performing Arts Center and included five separate honor orchestras – 3 middle school string orchestras and 2 high school full orchestras.
The Texas Music Educators Association divides the state into 28 regions according to geographical location and population. Each year, public school students may elect to audition to participate in their respective regional honor ensembles. Acceptance into a region ensemble is a distinct honor, particularly given that accepted students become eligible to audition for participation in an all-state ensemble. Region 25 is widely considered the strongest region for orchestra in Texas. Accordingly, this year 44 string students from Region 25 were accepted into an all-state ensemble while the next closest region had 24 string students accepted into an all-state ensemble.
While in Texas, Mick also spent a day at Plano Senior High School where he was a clinician for the PSHS Symphony Orchestra, which won the prestigious 2015 Texas High School Honor Full Orchestra award. This award represents the highest achievement a public school ensemble can receive within the Texas Music Educators Association system. Each year, one high school program receives the “Honor” award after a strenuous and anonymous application process where two separate panels of judges listen to and rank recordings of participating ensembles to crown a winner. PSHS last won this award in 2009.
James Mick specializes in string music education and teaches a wide array of music education courses spanning from Introduction to Music Education and Class Strings to Current Topics in Music Education and Contemporary Ensembles in Public Schools. He also serves as the Music Director of the Ithaca Community Orchestra and as the president-elect of the New York American Strings Teachers Association (NYASTA). Mick previously taught middle school orchestra in the Plano Independent School District from 2005-2007. Additionally, he completed his undergraduate student teaching experience at PSHS in 2002.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/2015012115352153