SMA Musician Repeats As ATSSB All-State Band Selection

For the second year in a row, San Marcos Academy sophomore Daniel AbuJaber was selected as a member of the ATSSB All-State Band after qualifying at competitive auditions at the regional and area levels.

More than 10,000 high school band students from across Texas auditioned in 22 different regions for a place in their respective All-Region Bands.

The top chairs in each region advanced to one of the five area auditions held across the state in January. Only 280 of these 2,288 students were selected for All-State honors by the ATSSB (The Association of Texas Small School Bands).

The ATSSB All-State Band, including AbuJaber, will meet for rehearsals in San Antonio Feb. 12-15 and will present a concert beginning at 9 a.m. on Feb. 15 in the Lila Cockrell Theatre of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.

AbuJaber is a student of Brittany Hernandez and plays the clarinet at SMA under the direction of Randy Leifeste, who is a member of the ATSSB.

AbuJaber’s other involvements at school include tennis, National Honor Society, and Student Ambassadors. He also enjoys computer programming. He is the son of Jorge Abugaber and Rebecca Bowman of San Marcos.

Two other Academy students were selected to audition at the area level but did not qualify for the All-State Band. Addy Cianciotto was sixth chair on flute and Micah Burton was eleventh chair on tuba.

Academy musicians will compete at the TAPPS state solo & ensemble contest March 25 and with defend their title as state champion at the TAPPS Band Concert/Sight Reading competition April 21.

They will also be heading to San Antonio April 24 to take part in the Bluebonnet Classic Music Festival.