Woodrow Wilson High School students Elliana Mitchell and Elle Sheaffer made All-State Choir. They are pictured with their choir director Nicole Dickerson. Courtesy photo.
For the first time, two Woodrow Wilson High School students from East Dallas have been selected for the All-State Choir.
Senior Elle Sheaffer and junior Elliana Mitchell are expected to sing with the 2026 Texas All-State Mixed Choir and Treble Choir, respectively, on Feb. 14 in San Antonio at the nation’s largest music educator’s convention, according to a press release. Making All-State is the highest honor for a Texas music student. Elliana has performed once before as an All-State organization member, and this is Elle’s first time doing so.
Elle and Elliana achieved this feat by advancing through the district, region and area-levels of competition, according to the press release. They are among eight Dallas ISD students who made All-State Choir. The process started with about 60,000 kids in Texas auditioning to be in one of the 18 ensembles, and that number was whittled down to 1,830. The students will have a chance to work with notable conductors during four days of rehearsals leading up to performances. You can find more information about the convention here.
If you don’t plan to catch the show in San Antonio, you can also see Elle and Elliana perform locally. They both landed lead roles in WWHS’s musical production of 9 to 5, based on the 1980 comedy and satire film of the same name about women’s experiences in the workforce. Elle will play Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin’s character in the movie), and Elliana is starring as Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda’s character).
Showings of 9 to 5: The Musical will take place on the evenings of Feb. 5-7 and the afternoon of Feb. 8. Tickets are available here.
