Temple High School Jazz Band Wins National Honors | KWKT

The Temple High School jazz ensemble, the Temple Highlighters, has received national honors from the Music Education Foundation.

The Temple Highlighters were selected as a national winner under the Mark of Excellence / National Jazz Honors project.

The Highlighters, under the direction of Marcos Duran, are one of three high school jazz ensembles from across the country to receive National Winner Honors. There were a total of 301 nominations from across the country in the different categories of the Music Education Foundation’s Mark of Excellence project.

The ensembles submitted recordings of their entries, adding yet another challenge to an already difficult year.

“It was a really good surprise to be honest with you because of everything we’ve been through over the past year,” said Duran. “The kids kept showing up and doing what they needed to so that we could keep playing. We had some really special times together and earning this honor made all the hard work and effort worth it especially for the kids who have done so much. We were making music for the sake of making music and winning a contest was just a by-product of our action and our kids really investing in this process.

Temple High School offers the oldest jazz orchestra program in the state of Texas, dating back to the 1950s.