TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple High School jazz ensemble, the Temple Highlighters, has been awarded national honors by The Foundation for Music Education. The Temple Highlighters were selected as a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence/National Jazz Honors Project.
The Highlighters, under the direction of Marcos Duran, are one of just three high school jazz ensembles from across the country to receive National Winner honors. There were a total of 301 entries from across the country throughout the different categories in The Foundation for Music Education’s Mark of Excellence Project. The top performers received the highest award of National Honors, with the next group being awarded Commended Honors. Ensembles submitted recordings of their entries, adding one more challenge in an already difficult year, and that helped make the honor that much more of a pleasant surprise for Duran and the members of the ensemble.
“It was a very welcome surprise to be honest with you because of everything we went through last year,” said Duran. “The kids kept showing up and doing what they needed to so we could keep playing. We had some really special moments in our ensemble and winning this honor made all of the hard work and effort worthwhile, especially for the kids who did so much. We were making music for the sake of making music and winning a contest was just a by-product of us doing that and our kids really investing in that process.”
Temple High School has the oldest jazz band program in the state of Texas, dating back to the 1950’s. This is the fourth time the Temple Highlighters have won National Honors, with the first three coming under the direction of Duran’s predecessor, Brent Mathesen. After adding a fourth honor in his first year as director, Duran is proud to continue to build on the ensemble’s foundation of success.
“Without all of my current colleagues and the people who came before me, we wouldn’t have what we have now,” Duran said. “I also want to say a special thank you to my wife because no matter how things were going or what we had to deal with, she never let me lose sight of why we were doing this and made me keep my focus on the kids.”
In addition to their honors, all winners will also receive written and recorded comments from the judges and a compilation recording of the winning performances. That recording will create a permanent archive of the performances and also provide an educational reference and resource for ensemble directors.
“Despite so many COVID restrictions, so many musical ensembles still made amazing musical performances,” said Rick Yancey, managing director of the Mark of Excellence Project. “These directors and their communities should be very proud of their outstanding accomplishments!”
Thanks to the entrants in the Mark of Excellence, The Foundation for Music Education is able to help fund clinics at The Midwest Clinic, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Choral Directors Association and the Texas Music Educators Association. The organization also helps provide scholarships and several other resources for the advancement of music education in the United States. For more information on The Foundation for Music Education, you can visit: www.foundationformusiceducation.org.