East Tipp eighth-grader Kelan Hallenbeck has been accepted into the Indiana Bandmasters Jr. All-State Band for 2026! 

To make the group, Kelan learned two very difficult excerpts on his clarinet and submitted digital recordings to a panel of judges.  This was not simply an application process; Kelan was selected from a blind audition on two diverse musical selections. 

ETMS Band Director Mr. Rhoda said, "I have previously served on that panel (not this year), and the quality of those recordings is out of this world.  This places Kelan into a very elite group of musicians, putting him in the top fifteen of all students in grades 7-9 on the clarinet.  Kelan is the first East Tipp student ever to make this ensemble.  In my fifteen-year career, I have only sent two students, both freshmen.  Kelan will be the third, and my first eighth-grade student. " 

The band will perform at the Indiana Music Educators State Convention in Fort Wayne on January 18 at the historic Embassy Theatre.  The concert will be fabulous.  Congratulations, Kelan!