Orchestra director David DeVoto received the UIL Sponsor Excellence Award in mid-January for his success in leading the orchestra and his philosophy on how competition can help students succeed.

The award is for sponsors of UIL events in Texas, whether it be to directors in music, athletics or theater. It celebrates not only the achievements of the director or coach themselves, but also the achievements of the groups they lead.

“I found out about it the second week of January,” DeVoto said. “Dr. Johnston and Dr. Nix came into our rehearsal and told me and the students while we were having rehearsal, so that was really nice.”

DeVoto needed to write an application that summarized his beliefs, and he wrote about why competition is healthy for students.

“I think [competition] sets goals for all of us,” DeVoto said. “That’s why I think competition is good because it sets standards for all of our groups, not just a varsity group.”

In orchestra, DeVoto makes sure that students have good experiences and equally great moments.

“We need to make sure everybody has challenging music and good music, which is the biggest challenge,” DeVoto said. “All students here at Allen High School that are in orchestra will do UIL competition; they all get to go to banquet, they all go on the trip and they all have the same opportunities.”

DeVoto says that the orchestra students were very excited when he won and that they were big contributors to his achievement.

“I didn’t think that I would personally win, but I do think our accomplishments as Allen High School have been really outstanding in UIL competitions,” DeVoto said. “Last year, we took 10 orchestras to UIL competition and all 10 of them made sweepstakes, so I think we were, and maybe I was, on [UIL’s] radar because of that.”

Though DeVoto says that being an orchestra director can be difficult, he says that it is also very enjoyable.

“I get to play music all day long,” he said. “I really enjoy looking at music and trying to get new music. Using that music to create all those programs for all six orchestras is a lot of fun.”

The orchestra now has 11 groups advancing to UIL competition, and DeVoto is aiming for higher goals.

“Now we’ll see if we can one-up ourselves and go 11 for 11, that’s the future goal,” he said. “After competition, [we’ll] then enjoy the rest of the year with fun music for everybody.”