16th Annual South Texas Classic will be held November 4, 2023.
The Louis D. Brandeis Bronco Band is proud to sponsor the 16th annual South Texas Classic. The 2023 STC will be held at the Brandeis Athletic Field located at 13011 Kyle Seale Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas 78249 on November 4, 2023.
Congratulations to the 2023 Grand Champion’s,
Sandra Day O’Connor HS!
2023 Results
Our 2023 Sponsors
2023 Judges
Dan Allen
Dan Allen is a professional musician from Texas. In the world of the marching arts, he is a widely sought after expert in battery percussion, and specializes in advanced snare drum methods and practices.Currently, he performs full time with grammy-nominated electronic duo, Odesza, as a member of the Odesza Drumline. The group recently headlined Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Electric Forest music festivals, as part of “The Last Goodbye” tour.
As an educator, Dan has been teaching at the World Class level for over 10 years as a battery percussion specialist with numerous groups including the Blue Knights Drum Corps, the Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble, Vigilantes Indoor Percussion, and most recently with the Mandarins Drum Corps. He also teaches many of the top competitive high school marching bands in north Texas.
Dan is a proud endorser of Vic Firth Drumsticks, Zildjian Cymbals, Dynasty Drums, and is the first featured artist with DropSpin Metronome.
Dan’s own creative work as a rudimental drummer merges electronic music, video effects, and collaborations with other musicians on his drum channel, @SnareFlow. He can be contacted for lessons, clinics, judging, and more through SnareFlow@gmail.com
Taha Ahmed
Taha Ahmed received his Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from the University of Texas at Austin. He also is a licensed Emergency Medical Technician. Currently, he resides in the Houston area where he works with Cy-Fair High School and Clear Brook High School. He is also an active instructor, consultant, arranger, designer, and rudimental private lesson teacher at numerous other high schools in the area.Taha is currently the Percussion Caption Head for The Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps and has been on staff since 2020. Prior to that, Taha was on the battery staff at The Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from 2016 through 2019, and the snare tech at The Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps for their 2015 season. Taha’s performing experience includes being a snare drummer at the Bluecoats 2012, Academy 2011, Santa Clara Vanguard 2010, and the Troopers in 2009 and 2008. During his drum corps career, Taha was privileged to learn from instructors such as Mike Jackson, Murray Gusseck, Ralph Hardimon, Glen Crosby, Roger Carter, Eric Shriver, Matt Ramey, Jim Ragsdale, Kevin Welborn, Rick Barclay, Derrick Fields, and Brian Stevens.
In the indoor scene, Taha has also experienced multiple seasons of success as an instructor. Taha is currently the Program Coordinator and Battery Coordinator for Monarch Independent Percussion. He has been working with Monarch since their inaugural season in 2015. He also currently serves as the director of Cy-Fair High school and serves multiple roles for Clear Brook High School. Taha was the Battery Coordinator and Movement Specialist for the 2014 WGI Independent A Gold Medalist, Lone Star Independent.
Taha proudly endorses Pearl / Adams, Vic Firth, and Zildjian.
Evan Blackard
Evan is the former Director of Percussion for the Richland High School Cluster in North Richland Hills, Texas. During his 15 years at Richland High School, he oversaw the percussion element for numerous Middle School Honor Band Finalists, High School Honor Band Hinalists, UIL State Marching Contest Finalists and BOA Regional, Super Regional and Grand National Finalists.
Under his direction, Richland High School was named the 2016 Percussive Arts Society “International Percussion Ensemble Competition” champion, as well as being showcased at the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival in 2017. Evan also created the one-of-a-kind “Richland Percussion Show”, a percussion- centric stage production featuring components of percussion ensemble literature, pop and rock music, theatre, and electronic music.
In addition to the Richland Cluster, Mr. Blackard has taught with the University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington, and the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. Some of his teachers include: Paul Rennick, Scott Johnson, Bill Bachman, Sean Vega, Ron Fink, Robert Schietroma, Jim Yakas, Matt Savage, Mark Ford, and Leigh Howard Stevens.
Evan holds a BA in Music from the University of North Texas and is currently a full time percussion arranger, wind arranger, sound designer and composer. Providing successful design for pageantry groups of all levels, Evan’s work is consistently described as effective, accessible, innovative…and fun to play!
Evan lives in Flagstaff, Arizona with his wonderful wife Michelle and their dog, Lola.
South Texas Classic 
