BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

HSPVA’s Annual Encore for Excellence Luncheon

By Savanna Lim, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, School Buzz Reporter | February 29, 2016

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Michael Cortez, among other visual artists, stands next to his painting, Tradition Lost.

On Feb. 23, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts hosted its Annual Encore for Excellence Luncheon, a tradition that includes inviting notable alumni of the school and auctioning off items for fundraising. This event was organized by HSPVA Friends, a non-profit organization, in order to continue supporting HSPVA in its artistic (and rather expensive) endeavors.

Adele Carson and Erin Hollaman collecting raffle tickets.

Notable guests included the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, City Controller Chris Brown, State Senator Sylvia Garcia, and State Representative Sarah Davis, and Grammy award winner Bryan Michael Cox.

Bryan Michael Cox (’97), a 9-time Grammy award winner, was invited to come back this year as the guest of honor for the luncheon. Bryan, a record producer and songwriter, has worked with artists like Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton. After several student performances, Bryan launched into memories of his old days at HSPVA; how he initially started in the Theatre department and finally in the Vocal department. He managed to finish high school in three years, taking both 11th and 12th grade at the same time.

Bryan Michael Cox takes the stage.

Mr. Cox generously donated two recording sessions with himself (valued at $20,000 each), four scholarships for HSPVA students to go to Georgia and learn about the music-production business with him, and two tickets to the 2016 Grammys (Grammy tickets are never sold to the public) and tickets to his annual pre-Grammy luncheon.

The luncheon, held at the River Oaks Country Club, was a huge success, raising a record of $211,000 for the school. Many school districts have cut the budgets for their arts funding, emphasizing “STEM” over “STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math).

Alejandra Blanco in the Mariachi performance of Los Pasajeros, the Mariachi band of HSPVA.

HSPVA shines in both academic and artistic excellence - the students work in tandem with their art area, which provides an outlet for both discipline and passion, to produce results that suggest that we should maybe pay more attention to the arts.