SMA Band Members Strike Gold At State TAPPS Contest

San Marcos Academy students picked up a total of 60 gold medals at the TAPPS State Championship Solo & Small Ensemble competition at St. Mary’s University March 27.

Their total surpassed last year’s school record of 58.

All but one of the 36 SMA participants brought home at least one gold medal. Ten students earned two medals; six earned three medals; and one student, junior Kai Yang, captured four.

Earning TAPPS All-State honors and gold medals for their performances were vocal soloists Mac Daniel Howard and Emily Shang; piano soloist Kai Yang; flute soloists Emily Shang and Addy Cianciotto; and clarinet soloist Daniel Abu Jaber.

Also earning First Division Gold medals (Superior Ratings) for their solos were Bonnie Dai, vocal; Derrick Muanya and Kayla King, euphonium; Frankie Blair and K.K. Kutscher, trombone; David Britton and Julius Wong, trumpet; John Kersh, Derrick Muanya and Micah Burton, tuba; Oscar Chen and Catherine Deng, snare drum; David Shui, Lukas Chen and Kai Yang, marimba; Nathan Yu, clarinet; Faith White and Bonnie Dai, flute; and Addy Cianciotto, piccolo.

Ensembles taking gold were the Bb Clarinet Trio of Kayla Livingston, Cendra Rodriguez and Amberly Schlanger; the Flute Trio of Summer Schlanger, Faith White and Lily Xu; the Flute Trio of Bonnie Dai, Emily Shang and Lily Xu; the Saxophone Quartet of Belle Cummings, Zara Gao, Arden Moczygemba and Catarina Vazquez; and the Trombone Trio: of Frankie Blair, Beau Guidry and K.K. Kutscher.

Also, the Tuba Trio of  Micah Burton, John Kersh and Derrick Muanya; the Brass Quartet of David Britton, Caleb Guenther, Beau Guidry and K.K. Kutscher; the Percussion Ensemble of Pedro Bribiesca, Jacey Cano, Oscar Chen, Lukas Chen, David Shui and Kai Yang; and the Percussion Ensemble of Conner Irwin, Jacey Cano, Lukas Chen, David Shui, Terry Cai and Kai Yang.

Vocalists and instrumentalists earning “Excellent” ratings were Zara Gao, vocal solo; and Andrew Longoria, Conner Irwin, Terry Cai, Arden Moczygemba, Zara Gao and Lily Xu, instrumental soloists.

Randy Leifeste is director of the SMA Band, and Jody Leifeste is the piano accompanist.