Cinco Ranch High School Sinfonia

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

Cinco Ranch High School is the fourth public high school to open in the Katy Independent School District with a total enrollment of 3,715 students. The high school is the first High School to open in the master planned community known as Cinco Ranch. Located on the western suburbs of Houston Texas, Cinco Ranch is closest to Katy, Texas which has a total population of 340,000 people. The student population is diverse as it reflects the state of Texas and this part of Fort Bend County. Over time, the percentage classified as economically disadvantaged has grown to 35% of the student population. Music Curriculum: The Cinco Ranch High School Orchestra Program employs a music curriculum guided by the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Within these guidelines, the orchestras focus on a repertoire-based curriculum. Techniques or skills needed to perform any concert cycle at their highest level are taught to the students through the repertoire to be performed at these concerts. Supplementing the repertoire, the directors rely on pedagogy published by icons in the school orchestra music education: Dr. Michael Allen, Dr. Michael Alexander, Dr. Sandra Dackow, Dr. Robert Gillespie, and Dr. Christopher Selby. The combination of this material in addition to the repertoire-based curriculum assists with guiding the program though the TEKS as well as our annual assessment through the University Interscholastic League. Students typically perform between five to six concerts each academic year: a Fall Concert, Cluster Concert, Winter Concert for the Fall Semester and two UIL-assessed performances in addition to a Spring Concert in the Spring Semester. Additional concerts may consist of collaborations with other members of the CRHS Fine Arts Department, such as a Veterans Day Concert and a biennial Fine Arts Department Musical. Students in the CRHS Feeder pattern perform in an annual Cluster Concert. This is a themed concert in which students from the cluster feeder junior high schools sit side by side with high school students in performance. In addition to the performance, the directors swap places for a day. This allows for greater Vertical Alignment as the High School directors have an opportunity to work with the students in the junior highs as well as allowing the high school students an opportunity to work once again with their former junior high director. In addition to the student performance, the cluster concert also includes a small ensemble performance by the directors. The Cinco Ranch cluster is fortunate that we have more conservatory-trained directors than any other cluster in Katy ISD. The performance demonstrates to the public that the directors are also accomplished musicians. In Texas, music programs prepare a performance for annual assessment that is sponsored by the University Interscholastic League. The repertoire selected for this assessment must meet the requirements of the UIL Prescribed Music List. The event is organized under rules and supervised by a UIL Region Executive Secretary. Furthermore, this assessment is judged by peers that meet the qualifications outlined in the Texas Music Adjudicators Association. The Cinco Ranch High School Orchestra Program has been successful by performing concerts with a wide range of repertoire and performing that repertoire as a curriculum teaching techniques and skills outlined by the TEKS. The “secret sauce” of the Cinco Ranch High School Orchestra Program is the fundamental promise that those members of the orchestra program will come together as a family in the orchestra room, which is their home away from home, working collaboratively in a positively engaged environment of fellow hard working student musicians. Throughout the year, the 150-plus members of the orchestra are divided into six different performance ensembles. Student placement is ideally determined where each student may contribute to the success of the ensemble as well as have an opportunity for continued personal growth on their instrument. The CRHS program is successful because of the diversity of our students and our surrounding community. The directors believe that performing great music in a positively-engaged collaborative environment of hard-working student musicians leads to the continued development of their character as well as an opportunity for students to demonstrate leadership both in and outside of rehearsal. Many of our students are leaders in other organizations or athletic teams. The students in the Sinfonia ensemble also collaborate with many of the top wind, brass and percussion students, forming the Cinco Ranch High School Symphony Orchestra. This ensemble only exists for a few short weeks each school year. This ensemble has its own concert in the Spring semester performing works of the standard orchestral repertoire. Additionally, this ensemble also performs their concert program for the UIL Assessment. Finally, students have the opportunity for personal growth through preparing auditions for the Texas Music Educators Association All-State ensembles. The UIL also sponsors an event for preparing solos and ensembles of the standard literature. Honors and Awards: (The past five years): 2025 UIL State Chamber Music Finalist; 2022 National Orchestra Honors National Winner; 2022 Broadway Debut, New York City, New York; 2022 Texas Music Educators Association Featured Performance, San Antonio, Texas; 2020 Grand National Champion American String Teachers Association; National Orchestra Festival, Orlando, Florida

Cinco Ranch High School Sinfonia

Conductor's Bio

TBD