THE Houston Band

Hello Houston Band family,

Concert season is off to the races! Both ensembles are demonstrated exceptional improvement each day. I can't wait to showcase this talent at our concert on December 12th. We have a lot going on in the coming weeks, so please read this newsletter carefully!

Please read this newsletter carefully for information regarding:

• Spirit Night TONIGHT
• Cookie Dough Pickup TOMORROW
• All West Auditions SATURDAY
• Holiday Concert
• Holiday Parade
• This Year's Ornaments
• An Exciting Silent Auction!

With excitement and gratitude,

Mr. C

We have a spirit night at the Germantown Chipotle this evening! Click on the image for more information. You must show the flyer in-person or use the promo code in-app!

Thank you to Mrs. Ortiz for doing an amazing job getting us all these great spirit night opportunities. Show up, eat great food, and support your Houston Band!

This Wednesday, students will pick up their cookie dough orders to distribute to their buyers. The orders will arrive early enough for students that dismiss early for work-based to get it. All other students will pick it up immediately after 7th period. The cookie dough comes frozen and must stay frozen until baking. If you purchased a significant amount of cookie dough, storing in a cooler or freezer while distributing is recommended.

Additionally, students have been told to tell their teachers/other at-school purchasers to meet them in the band room that afternoon to avoid bringing things home and then back the next day unrefrigerated.

All west auditions are in five days on November 22nd. Audition times are shared below. All wind and percussion students are required to be there unless otherwise told they aren't.

9-10 Band

11-12 Band

11-12 Orchestra

Jazz Band

Your band dues pay for the audition fees but not the clinic fees. This year, All West will cost $275 for participation if you need to plan ahead for that. All State will cost similarly. We are also able to spread that out over the second semester if needed due to semester one dues/ trip dues.

I cannot wait for our annual holiday concert on Thursday, December 11th at 6pm. Doors will open at 5:30pm. The concert will likely conclude by 7pm.

Important info at a glance:

• The order of the concert is: Silver Note Collective (jazz band), Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble.
• Students must stay the full length of the concert. Do not plan on leaving early--students supporting their peers is the most important part of the night.
• There will be an in-person merch sale at the concert, featuring some great Houston Band branded items!
• Hot cocoa will be available for sale both before the concert and during the transition from the jazz ensemble to the concert ensembles.
• Students will wear their concert attire to this performance. Students were fitted for this in August, and it will be passed out in the coming weeks. If your performer has grown significantly since then, please reach out ASAP. We can size up as needed.
• Both concert ensembles are performing a combination of secular and nonsecular holiday music. If you have a reason to not allow your student to perform and/or rehearse secular and/or nonsecular music, reach out immediately. We will get a plan together for alternative assignments for your young musician if there is a religious reservation to participation in this cycle. Those requests are due this Friday, 11/21/25.

The annual Germantown Holiday Parade takes place on the second Saturday of December every year (rain date on the immediately following Sunday). This year, the parade will be on December 13th (rain date 12/14). Per our syllabus and multiple email communications dating back months, the ACT is not a valid conflict for this event. Our call time will be in the mid-late morning, and the parade festivities will go through the mid-afternoon. Please let me know if you have a conflict ASAP.

We will rehearse after school on Friday December 12th, which will go as late as 4:45pm. Typically, we finish by around 4pm. If the rehearsal is rained out, we will rehearse the morning of the parade.

Note: Per our syllabus, if you have a conflict with the RAIN DATE you must communicate that ahead of time with one month's notice, just like any other conflict. "We have an event tomorrow" will NOT be a valid reason to get out of the rain date performance. Please plan ahead and reach out ASAP if you have a conflict with that rain date.

I still have my high school band ornaments. Two are at my parents' house, one is at my home, and one goes on my office tree at work. I love hanging up ornaments every year and thinking back on the memories associated with them. We are excited to continue offering amazing ornaments as a fundraiser and a way to hold memories each holiday season, created by the amazing Alison Coons. We will send information out about how to purchase ASAP!

See a preview of the 2025 design here!

If you want to keep the spirit of Audrey II alive, consider contributing in our silent auction for this amazing costume created by band alumnus Emma Tunnell!

An email went out to families who are missing payments of band dues. Please check your spam folder for an email from kevin.carpenter@gmsdk12.org if you're not positive you've paid in full yet.

Our school district provides a bit over $60,000 to run our program each year, and it costs significantly more than that to operate at the level we do. A large portion of those funds comes from band dues, our amazing boosters, and generous private donors.

Our next ensemble auditions/chair placements will take place on December 15th and 16th. Those auditions will feature the following:

• an 8-24 measure excerpt from that concert cycle (released to students December 1st)
• a full range chromatic scale
• one (randomly selected) major scale
• a 4-8 measure sight reading excerpt

Those auditions will be fast-paced to get done in two days. Be ready!

Color guard drill camp will take place on December 14th (or December 13th if the parade happens on the 14th). Information around time/expectations will be sent out by Mrs. Roberts. Basically, this is like a day of band camp for our color guard students in anticipation of their indoor season, which goes through Q3 and the beginning of Q4.

As we approach school/elective choice season this winter, please know that word of mouth is our best recruiter for the amazing band programs here at Houston High School and within the GMSD Bands. I hope you have seen firsthand the transformative power of instrumental music education and band as an activity.

If you have a friend, neighbor, family member, or ANYONE else in your life in 4th or 5th grade within GMSD, let them know about the transformative experience band has been in your students' lives. If you know an 8th grader that wants to be in a great band but doesn't live in Germantown, let them know about our academies. We are so excited to continue building our program's numbers back to more sustainable levels, but that takes work from everyone. Thank you for helping with that work!

If anyone has ANY questions about band at any level, I'm more than happy to field those questions.

From booster president Deanna Gilbert:

Our Booster Board is looking to fill some vacant spots and this is a perfect opportunity for some of our new families to join in behind the scenes of supporting the band. Specifically we are in need of a Booster Secretary (takes minutes at monthly Booster meetings and invites various admin, city leaders and school board to events), a Uniform Co-Chair or 2 (will assist Uniform Chair Erica McCarrens in getting our students ready for games and competitions), and a Publicity Chair (takes pictures at events, updates social media and assists in event promotions). If you are interested or have any questions please reach out to Booster President Deanna Gilbert at dlgilbert3@bellsouth.net.

It is extremely important to plan ahead for ACT dates when you are in band, as we often have Saturday events outside of our scheduling control. The ACT dates with no conflicts are (2026:) April 11 for most students, June 13, and July 11.

That is more than enough dates to take the ACT an adequate number of times. Missing a band event for the ACT is NOT excused. We understand the inconvenience of not having these dates available, but all of these Saturdays are outside of our scheduling control. Our ACT date conflicts this year are: December 13 (Holiday Parade), February 14 (All West), and April 11 (for All State Students only). Please plan accordingly.

The road to all west starts today! The band room will be open to practice in the mornings from 7:00-7:45 and after school M/W until 4:10pm. If you want specific one-on-one help, ask Mr. Sims or Mr. C in advance for a free 20-30 minute lesson!

If you work at or own a business (big or small!), please consider sponsoring the band. Our booster president Mrs. Gilbert has created the following sponsorship document that is printable to present to interested parties. We are grateful to all businesses that support arts education in Germantown.

Please note, students that miss rehearsals and performances without prior approval will be penalized with grade deductions. All you have to do is give us as MUCH heads up as possible, emailing me the reason for missing and (when relevant) a doctor's note. Please note that the closer we get to a date, the less likely exemption will be granted. Give us time to plan for other students' success when sending us your reasonable conflicts due to health, religion, family emergencies, etc.

Please look ahead in our calendar when scheduling routine doctor or dental care. Your appointment may have been scheduled for six months, but our calendar has been set for 18 months. If you have an immovable appointment, let me know ASAP, not the day before. The former will be exempt, and the latter will not.

Thank you for your understanding and commitment to our band's success!

Mr. Sims has created a list of some practice resources for students. If you have any additional resources that have been helpful for you, please feel free to share them!

• The Woodwind Fingering Guide
• "Fingering Chart by Tremolo" on iOS
• PlayScore 2
• Sight Reading Factory (see Mr. C for activation instructions at the start of band camp)
• MusicRacer.com (note that there are strobing lights in this game)

Additionally, students have reported having improved outcomes utilizing the Tonic App. I've heard comparisons to the popular running app Strava, but for music. Parents, please feel free to explore this option for your young musician but be advised that there is a social media element to this app.

Find upcoming dates for performances, events, and one-off rehearsals below. Note that regular rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays, with sectionals on Mondays.

You can always find our full calendar (including Google and iCal integration links) here: https://www.thehoustonband.com/calendar

Upcoming Dates

• 11/11/25 - Holiday concert rehearsals begin (Tuesdays Concert Band, Thursdays Wind Ensemble)
• 11/22/25 - WTSBOA All West Auditions
• 12/11/25 - Holiday Concert (@ HHS, 6pm)
• 1/8/26 - After school rehearsals begin for CPA cycle (Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on ensemble)
• 1/28/26 to 2/1/26- Spring Trip - Universal Studios!!
• 2/12/26-2/14/26 - WTSBOA All West Clinic
• 2/21/26 - CPA/Festival Mini Camp (@ HHS, all day)
• 3/12/26 OR 3/13/26 - WTSBOA Concert Performance Assessment
• 4/9/26-4/12/25 - TnMEA All State Clinic and Conference
• Possible Spring Concert Dates: April 30, May 1, May 5 (awaiting venue confirmation)
• 5/8/26 - Graduation

• July 13-18, 2026: Color guard and percussion camp

• July 20-25, 2026: Full camp

• July 28, 2026: Summer rehearsal 1

• July 30, 2026: Summer rehearsal 2

• August 6, 2026: Begin after school rehearsals (every Tuesday/Thursday)

• September 12, 2026: Mini camp

• September 19, 2026: Possible contest "0" (unlikely but possible depending on rest of season's schedule--leave open!)

• September 26, 2026: Contest 1

• October 3, 2026: Contest 2

• October 24, 2026: Contest 3 or Film Session (do not schedule an ACT test)

• October 31, 2026: Contest 3 or Film Session

• November 7, 2026: Possible contest 4 (depending on Bandmasters scheduling, TBD by UofM football schedule)

• December 10, 2026: Holiday Concert

• December 12, 2026: Holiday Parade

• December 13, 2026: Holiday Parade makeup date

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