The Canyon Vista Orchestras

Canyon Vista Middle School is a 3C Middle School with an enrollment of 1,337 students in grades 6 - 8. Located 15 miles north of downtown Austin, Canyon Vista is one of 11 Middle Schools in the Round Rock Independent School District. The program is currently under the leadership of Ragan Whatley. Distinguished former directors include Jerome Brillhart and Elizabeth Frederick. Canyon Vista, along with Grisham Middle School, feeds into Westwood High School.

The Orchestra program at CVMS currently has 195 members, placed in 5 ability based orchestras. CVMS takes 4 string orchestras to the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Evaluation, at which all 4 ensembles have consistently earned Sweepstakes Awards. Additionally, the Honors Band and Honors Orchestra regularly perform together as the Canyon Vista Symphony Orchestra, and have been highly successful at State and National Competitions.

The Honors Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra are perennial finalists in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Honor Orchestra Competition, which is one of the most competitive music competitions in the country. The Canyon Vista Honors Orchestra has been selected four times as TMEA Honor String Orchestra (2000, 2010, 2013, and 2020), and twice as the TMEA Honor Full Orchestra (2011 and 2025). Additionally, the Honors Orchestra has been named a National Winner for the Foundation for Music Education's Mark of Excellence Award on five occasions (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023), and once combined with our Honors Band students as the Symphony Orchestra (2022).