As he walks down the aisles of his neighborhood Target with his family, senior Agustin Martinez receives an anticipated text that causes him to drop his phone and immediately hug his mom and sister.

“I found out that I had made it into the All-State band,” he said.

All-State is considered the highest honor a Texas student-musician can receive. Martinez was one of 1,795 out of 66,800 people selected to become a member of TMEA’s All-State organization.

“We had a district band audition before the official regional one,” he said. “I had a horrible audition and came in second place. Only first was given District band, so I was discouraged but never gave up.”

Martinez will represent the school in upper-level band concerts from here until the end of the year.

“Being a part of the band is very special to me,” he said, “I get to spend so much time around musicians and friends every day and I get to represent my band and my school in organizations like the All-State band.”

With both the school and the All-State band, Martinez will have to practice every day to prepare for future events.

“There’s a lot going on,” he said. “I’m practicing for the regional orchestra concert on the weekends and everyone is having small rehearsals with their ensembles basically every day for contests in February.”

Until their events, Martinez said he is just enjoying being a part of the group.

“In the end, placement and ranking doesn’t matter because we all work really hard,” he said. “I want to honor that hard work and show people that this band is really special.”