Skip to main content

Time:

Wednesday
December, 20, 2023
01:15 PM - 02:00 PM

Location:

W190

Category

Middle School String Orchestra

Conductor

Conductor Thumb
Kari Zamora

Program

Download

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

The Faubion Middle School Orchestra was founded in 2005 under the direction of Ruth Kurtis with the creation of the orchestra program in all of the McKinney middle schools. Director, Kari Zamora came to Faubion in the fall of 2006 when there were 32 students in the Faubion Orchestra. In 2011, the Faubion Orchestra had grown to 190 students and required the addition of a second director. There are approximately 235 students enrolled in orchestra at Faubion for the 2023-2024 school year who make up five performing orchestras: Beginner, Sinfonia, Concertino, Camerata, and Honors. Faubion also has a Rock Orchestra which rehearses after school. Since its creation, the Faubion Orchestra has received nothing but First Division ratings at every contest they have attended including fifteen consecutive years of UIL Sweepstakes ratings with multiple groups each year. The Faubion Orchestra has also earned numerous Best in Class and Most Outstanding Orchestra awards at many area festivals and contests. In 2014, The Full Orchestra was named the National Winner in the Mark of Excellence Music Competition. In addition the Full Orchestra also competed in the TMEA Middle School State Honor Full Orchestra Competition and came out first in the state of Texas performing in San Antonio in February of 2015. In April of 2016, the Faubion Honors Orchestra was invited to perform at the prestigious International Midwest Clinic for Band and Orchestra in Chicago in December of 2016. In 2018 the Faubion Honors Orchestra placed 5th state-wide in the TMEA State String Honor Orchestra Competition. In 2019 Faubion Orchestra received Commended in the national Mark of Excellence Orchestra competition. In 2022 Faubion Orchestra was again a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence Orchestra competition.

Faubion MS Orchestra

Conductor's Bio

Kari Zamora is originally from Tustin Michigan and started playing the violin at age 4 through the area Suzuki program. Mrs. Zamora attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Education, and the University of Florida where she received a Master of Music in Music Theory graduating with a 4.0. While at the University of Florida, her graduate thesis connecting serialism to passacaglias won first place in the Fine Arts Graduate Student Forum. Mrs. Zamora also enjoys composing and has written many of the UIL sight-reading pieces for the state of Texas over the past twelve years. She is enthusiastic about the pedagogy of music theory and wrote the theory series, "Music Theory for Strings" which has sold several thousands of copies nationwide. In 2007, Mrs. Zamora was selected as the Tex-ASTA Marjorie Keller Outstanding Young String Educator in Texas Award and was a quarterfinalist for the Music Educator Grammy in 2012. She has been a member of TMEA, serving multiple times as region middle school coordinator, and is also a member of ASTA, TMAA, and TODA. This year will be Mrs. Zamora's twenty-fifth year to teach and her eighteenth year at Faubion and currently serves as the Fine Arts/Electives Department Chair. While at Faubion, the orchestras have earned consistent UIL Sweepstakes Awards as well as other prestigious awards and accolades. Prior to teaching at Faubion, she taught in the Bark River-Harris (Michigan) Schools for two years, as well as started the orchestra programs at Downing Middle School and Durham Middle School in Lewisville ISD. Aside from her music-related hobbies, she enjoys spending time traveling with her husband and eleven-year old daughter, as well as cycling, watching hockey and college football, and reading.

Additional Directors

Additional Conductor Image

Brandon Berens

Back