2024 Citation of Excellence Award

Congratulations to the 2023-2024 McCracken Middle School Concert Band for being selected as a national winner of the 2024 Citation of Excellence Award from The Foundation for Music Education.

This program has been DOMINATED by Texas bands (both the high school and middle school awards) for the last 16 years. We’re the first non-Texas middle school to be selected as a national winner (or commended winner for that matter) for the Citation of Excellence Award. Even more impressive, the second bands at these Texas schools are composed of 7th and 8th graders (our Concert Band is made up of mostly 6th graders). We’re so proud of these kids’ work and thankful for the many mentors and friends who worked with them last year. Full results should be posted on their website soon

“The Citation of Excellence project seeks to recognize and award outstanding achievement in performance by non-varsity high school and middle school bands and orchestras. A unique competitive environment is created which allows ensembles to compare their performance quality to other outstanding non-varsity ensembles. The top 25% of entrants are recognized as Citation Winners, with the second 25% named as Commended Winners. All entrants receive a compilation recording of the winning performances. It is hoped the adjudicator critiques and the compilation recordings will prove helpful in improving performances and will spread knowledge of quality literature.”