Taison Clark, Percussion

Taison, 17, started playing piano at age six, and then picked up percussion in sixth grade. Now a senior at Jersey Village High School, he’s the pit captain and center marimba for the marching band, plays in the Wind Ensemble, and fills in occasionally on vibraphone, piano, guitar, and drumset with the JV Jazz Band. He also plays guitar and viheula with Mariachi Juvenil de CFISD and performs in the annual CFISD Mariachi Concerts. Taison currently takes lessons from Jonathan Carr for percussion and Erich Loftis for jazz piano, and his solo and ensemble rankings have been “superior” every year. He has made the TMEA Region Band every year since seventh grade, both Region Band and Region Orchestra since 10th grade, and as a senior, also made Region and Area Jazz Band as a pianist. Taison spends his free time practicing marimba, vibraphone, drums, piano, guitar, or accordion, playing rhythm games or Tetris, composing music, or fly-fishing. He’s currently ranked within the top 400 Tetris players in the US and is among the top 1% of fly casters globally.