For the past few years, the Tyler Junior College Wind Ensemble has been chasing — and achieving — some ambitious goals.

In February 2022, the group became the first community/junior college ensemble to perform a featured concert in the 102-year history of the Texas Music Educators Association’s annual convention in San Antonio.

In December 2023, they made history again as the first community/junior college ensemble invited to perform at The Annual Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago.

Now in its 77th year, the Midwest Clinic, also commonly known as Midwest, is the world’s largest instrumental music education conference, annually drawing more than 17,000 attendees from all 50 states and as many as 40 countries.

Members of the ensemble include Corban Mize and Aliyah Gonzalez, Mineola; and Nicolas Perez, Winnsboro.

Dr. Paula A. Crider, director emerita of The University of Texas Longhorn Band and a member of The Midwest Clinic board of directors, served as the TJC group’s liaison during the year leading up to the Dec. 21 performance.

Crider highlighted the significance of the moment — not just for TJC, but for community college bands across the state and nation.

“This is a monumental accomplishment,” she said. “For a band to be selected to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic is roughly analogous to playing in the Super Bowl.

“A community college band has never before been selected, and they were chosen in a blind audition, in competition with many four-year colleges. As with many endeavors where it is assumed that a given achievement would be highly unlikely, if not impossible, the performance of the TJC Wind Ensemble has shattered a proverbial glass ceiling and has provided a model for community college bands across the country to emulate.”

Over the course of their TMEA and Midwest pursuits, the TJC students learned that the effort they put in wasn’t just about attaining those singular achievements but also about creating habits of diligence and hard work that will set them up for success in life.

That work ethic has also reflected in the students’ academic achievements.

“This past fall, we had more 4.0 GPAs in the band program — 31, to be exact — than we’ve had in my nine years at TJC,” said TJC Director of Bands Jeremy Strickland.

Strickland shared conducting duties with Dr. Eddie Airheart, TJC assistant director of bands.

As with the TMEA concert two years before, Strickland also recruited his father, retired band director George “Buddy” Strickland of Mineola, to be a guest conductor, and this year added Dr. Timothy Rhea, Texas A&M University director of bands, and Bobby R. Francis, Texas Christian University director of bands.