Birdville ISD is excited to announce that they have four winners in The Foundation for Music Education’s 2021 Mark of Excellence competition. 

• The Birdville High School Symphonic Band, directed by Joshua Stover, has been selected as a Citation of Excellence Winner.
• The North Ridge Middle School Honors Band, directed by Jessica Shadman and Scott Dupre,  has been selected as a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence/National Wind Band Honors Project. 
• The Smithfield Middle School Honors Band, directed by Joshua Schechter, has been selected as a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence/National Wind Band Honors Project. 
• The Birdville High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Mike Cheripka, has been selected as a Commended Winner in the Mark of Excellence/National Jazz Honors. 

The Foundation for Music Education recently announced the results of the 2021 Mark of Excellence Project. Entered in the project this year were 236 of the finest high school and middle school musical ensembles in the United States. The similar Citation of Excellence Project had an enrollment of 65, for a total of 301 competing groups.  

The Mark of Excellence consists of the National Wind Band Honors, National Choral Honors, National Orchestra Honors, National Jazz Honors, and National Percussion Ensemble Honors. It is a competition, entered by recordings, in which the top quarter are selected as National Winners and the second quarter receive Commended Honors. 

Congratulations to the Birdville High School Symphonic Band, North Ridge Middle School Honors Band, Smithfield Middle School Honors Band, and the Birdville High School Jazz Ensemble. #BISDShines #WeAreBirdvilleISD