Paris Independent School District

Zephyr Spann and Kaitlyn Hellmann, both members of the Paris High School Choir have qualified to rehearse and perform with the 2026 Texas All-State Small School Choir. Spann and Hellmann will perform on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at San Antonio’s Henry B. González Convention Center, during the 2026 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.

Spann and Hellmann were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. Spann is a private student of Mark Welch. Hellmann is a private student of Alaina Downing. Both sing at school under the direction of Lindsay McCarter, who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a
20,400+ member organization headquartered in Austin. This is Zephyr’s second time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. She is the child of Clint and Crista Lumpkin.
This is Kaitlyn’s first time to perform with this this prestigious choir. She is the daughter of Steve Hellmann.

High school students selected to perform in All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can achieve. Students are selected through a multi-level adjudication process that begins with about 60,000 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of 18 ensembles.

Texas Music Educators Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition. This competitive process begins throughout the state in auditions hosted by 33 TMEA Regions. Individual musicians perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument or voice part. From this ranking, a select group of musicians advances from their Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only the top 3% of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.

Directed by nationally recognized conductors, All-State students participate in four days of rehearsals during the TMEA Clinic/Convention. Their performances for thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary event to a close. For the All-State concert and conductor information, go to the Performances section of www.tmea.org/convention.

About TMEA
Founded in 1920, the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) is a nonprofit professional association that supports high-quality music education for all Texas students. With over 20,400 members, including 14,100 school music educators, TMEA advocates for fine arts instruction and offers professional development through online courses and its annual clinic/convention. The association also provides scholarships and programs for high school and college students pursuing careers in music education.

Go to www.tmea.org/convention for more information about this event.