On Sunday, March 9, the 2025 Maryland All State Senior Band performed at Morgan State University. The All State Senior Band is a group created by the Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA), and is an audition based ensemble.
“All State is an opportunity for public, private, and independent school music students across Maryland to audition for premiere, state-wide ensembles,” the MMEA website states. “The ensembles are conducted by renowned conductors from Maryland and across the United States.”
The MMEA has nine All State performing groups, including the Junior Band, Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra, and the Senior Band, Commercial Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Mixed Chorus, and Treble Chorus. Each group requires a difficult set of auditions and takes the strongest players from each district in Maryland to be accepted into their ensemble.
The All State Senior Band performed five pieces at their concert, including, “The Last Flight Out” by Catherine Likhuta, “Clef Club March” by James Reese Europe, “The Hearthstone” by Julie Giroux, “Irish Tune from County Derry” by Percy Grainger, and “Give Us This Day” by David Maslanka.
“The Last Flight Out” is a world premiere by composer Catherine Likhuta, who was born in Ukraine in 1981, and it evokes the current political climate in Ukraine and the plight to leave to a new place. This song is a very new and advanced piece and is a testament to the abilities of the ensemble, who performed it as their concert opener.
The Senior Band included 99 students from across the state, including two from Frederick County. The ensemble was led by Dr. Tyler Austin, who completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University, holds a Master of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Susquehanna University.
“I’m grateful to live and work in a community right now where teachers help each other,” said Dr. Austin. “And I’m so grateful to come back to Maryland, from time to time, and have the opportunity to work with these incredible music educators.”
The MMEA is an operation that relies on support from the community to continue providing opportunities to middle and high school students involved in musical groups throughout their educational career.
“Thank you so much for being here, and supporting your students,” Dr. Austin addressed the parents in the audience during his final speech. “It’s impossible to do without. It cannot be over appreciated.”
To support the MMEA’s goal, which is, “to raise consistent funds each month to retain viability each fiscal year,” a donation link is available here: https://donorbox.org/mmea-giving.
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