Pearland Junior High West Honors Band

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

Pearland, TX was first settled in the late 1880’s and has grown to be the 29th most populous city in Texas and was listed as one of the nation’s top 5 small cities for diversity. The Pearland Junior High West Band has over 400 students in grades 6 through 8. Students begin homogenous instrumental instruction at Sablatura Middle School and continue into four bands at Pearland Junior High West. The program boasts a rich musical history within Pearland ISD, with Pearland Junior High West commemorating 30 years of education and formerly the home site for the original Pearland High School and outstanding musical excellence of the Pearland High School Band. In addition to their successes as an ensemble, Pearland Junior High West Band students have also excelled individually. Approximately 99% of our students in the top ensemble and 75% of our students in the second ensemble are enrolled in private lessons. The PJH-West Band Program regularly has over 100 students attend the Region Band Auditions and has had more than 50 students place in the Region Bands. The band staff at PJH-West attribute the program’s success to an amazing private lesson staff, supportive campus and district administration, and a focus on a growth mindset. The mission of our program is to inspire growth, character, and excellence in each of our students. Through positive attitudes and actions, we try to affect the world around us in the most productive and helpful ways possible. Many of our band students participate not only in our campus’s Gifted and Talented Academy and Dual Language Program, they also perform in our theater and choir programs, advance art classes, and audio and visual art production classes. Through fine arts, we hope to bring enjoyment to those for whom we perform and inspire growth in all of us. This is one of the truest rewards for the diligent work of all the students, teachers, and directors at Pearland Junior High West.

Pearland Junior High West Honors Band

Conductor's Bio

Meredith Bishop is the Director of Bands for Pearland JH West in Pearland, Texas. She teaches the varsity Honors Band, horn, trumpet, and flute classes, and is the electives department head. A 2006 graduate from Oklahoma State University, she began teaching at the Pearland Ninth Grade Center then helped open Dawson High School the following year before following her passion to teach younger students at Pearland JH East. Since 2012, Mrs. Bishop has served as the head director for Pearland JH West and grown the program from 180 to 420 students. Her bands consistently earn all first division ratings at the Texas University Interscholastic League Concert and Sight-Reading Evaluation and were a state finalist for the Texas Music Educators Association Honor Band Competition in 2017, 2019 and semi-finalist in 2023. They have placed as commended and national winners in the class AA and New Music divisions of the Mark of Excellence Wind Band competition and were named Best-in-Class at the Dickinson Gator Music Festival, Shadow Creek Showcase of Sound and Tompkins HS Falcon Festival. In 2024, they performed as an invited ensemble for the Music for All National Concert Band Festival. Mrs. Bishop was instrumental in creating the PISD Instrument Inventory Management Systems and has served as the District Instrument Inventory Coordinator for nearly twenty years. In 2017 and 2025, Mrs. Bishop was named the Pearland Junior High West Teacher of the Year. She is an active member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Texas Music Educators Association, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and serves as the Texas Region 19 Band Representative for the UIL/TMEA Music Advisory Committee. Mrs. Bishop is supported by her amazing husband Matthew, three daughters, Hayden, Mallory, and Madison, and the outstanding parents, staff, faculty and administration of Pearland Community.

Additional Directors

Jessica Steiner

Matt Wood