Palmdale High Sophomore Makes History with All-State Band Selection

PALMDALE, CA — In an amazing achievement that has been two decades in the making, Palmdale High School sophomore Gabriel (Sebastian) Linares has been selected for the California All-State Honor Band. He is the first student from the Antelope Valley Union High School District to earn this honor since around 2005.

Linares was chosen from over 1,000 students who tried out across the state to represent both Palmdale High School and AVUHSD at the state Music Education conference in Sacramento. This is a big deal because All-State bands are considered the highest honor any high school musician can get before college. California’s program is one of the best in the country.

“Most schools will never have a student make All-State,” said Meenah Alam, Palmdale High School’s band teacher. “Sebastian has been fantastic to have in band at Palmdale High School. He is extremely dedicated, hardworking, and helpful, and we’re so glad and proud of him that his hard work paid off to achieve this great accomplishment.”

A Dream Realized

Linares will travel to Sacramento for three days of practice with other top musicians from across California. The big performance will take place on January 17, where he will get to show off all his hard work on stage. Even though Linares has only been playing the flute for about four to four-and-a-half years, he has already shown amazing skill. This makes his selection even more impressive.

“In my opinion, the flute is the most beautiful instrument,” Linares said. “It has such a really rich sound and you can express so much with it and music.” For the tough tryout, Linares had to play five scales and two parts from a challenging piece called the Chaminade Concertino for flute.

This selection is the result of a whole year of focused hard work for the young musician. He had set this as his main goal from the start of the school year. “I really feel good that all my hard work this year paid off because this was my main goal for the entire year,” Linares said. As Linares gets ready to join California’s best young musicians in Sacramento, he carries with him the pride of his school and district. He has ended a 20-year wait and shown that hard work, passion, and many hours of practice can lead to great things..

Press Release/ Photo AVUHSD