15 Graduating Seniors Accepted Into Fine Arts Programs

HPISD leaders celebrate students with college signing day ceremony

Sally Wang knew she loved drawing as soon as she could pick up a pencil and scribble. 

“It was like I could be inside my own world,” she explained.

Now, Wang’s ability to express herself on paper will take her to the University of Texas at Austin, where she has been accepted into the studio art and business programs.

Wang was one of 15 students celebrated on April 25 for their admission both to a college or university and to one of their school’s fine arts programs during Highland Park ISD’s Fine Arts Signing Day.

The honorees were each introduced by their teachers, who shared impressive lists of their accomplishments. The students plan to study theater, studio art, music, architecture, and interior design.

Lucy Zeng, who will major in flute performance at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, said she started playing the flute just for fun while in elementary school.

Her accomplishments now include roles on the Highlander Band leadership team, and as principal flute and piccolo player in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. She has earned first chair in flute in the All-State Symphony Orchestra and has been named a winner of national and international competitions, such as the Salzburg Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition and the Golden Classical Music Awards.

Zeng aims to either become a performer herself or to teach a new generation of flute players.

“Music can touch a person’s heart,” she said. “And it’s really important to be able to do that.”

Other students pursuing studies in music were Charlie Lampe, who will major in music performance with a concentration on trombone at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music; Jack Teter, who will double major in tuba performance and biology at SMU; and Reuben Obel, who will double major in saxophone performance and general studies at the University of Michigan. 

Obel’s accomplishments include earning first chair in this year’s All-State 5A Symphonic Band, and first place in the Houston Underground Saxophone Competition as a sophomore, as well as being a finalist in the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial competition.

In addition to Wang, students planning to pursue studies in the visual arts included Alexandra Ephanov, who will double major in visual arts and biochemistry at SMU; Emory Love Loewen, who plans to study studio art at TCU; Isabelle Derr, who will attend the University of North Texas where she will major in studio art with the goal of pursuing a career in graphic design; Rebecca Lewis, who will study ceramics at the University of North Texas with the aim of becoming a college ceramics professor; and Sophie Gomez, who plans to earn a BFA in interdisciplinary art with a focus on clothing and costume design from SMU.

Students planning to study interior design or architecture were Isabella Lebron DeMaya, who will study interior design and architecture at Savannah College of Art and Design; Olivia Berde, who will study interior design at the University of Oklahoma; Lucy Armbrister, who will study architecture at the University of Oklahoma; and Ryan Corbitt, who will major in architecture at the University of Oregon.

Also recognized was theater student Zoe Zaner. She plans to major in theater at either the University of Texas at Austin or New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.