Hudson Hawk Band Updates

We will hold our annual summer band camp for HMS band students on July 28, 29, and 30. This year's camp will take place at Hudson. Camp will take place each day from 4:00pm-7:00pm for all Advanced Band students (all 7th and 8th graders who have had at least 1 year of band experience already). We will have a summer band concert on July 30th at 7:00pm in the gym at Hudson. We expect that students who are in town make arrangements to be at camp so we can have a really great start to our year!

RSVP for summer band camp here! (Please RSVP again, even if you did it previously)

If you are interested in donating any needed items to the band, please check out our Amazon Wish List!

We are so excited about the future of the Hudson Band program! You can find band placement results for 2025-2026 here. If your name is not on this list, you are either moving to a different instrument and in a beginner class again, moving schools, selecting a different elective, or we have made a mistake. If we have made a mistake, please let us know ASAP!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to give out physical summer music packets the last week of school like we usually do. Please use this link to find a packet of music to work on over the summer. This includes warm-ups, technique exercises, football music, scales, and more. If you can be prepared to play much of this music when the school year starts, you will feel excited and accomplished! More music will be added to this folder throughout the summer. Start by finding your instrument's packet, then check back for individual songs as the summer goes on!

Much like the beginner band year, as students continue with band there are new/different/extra supplies that will be needed. Many of these are the same supplies that we requested for this past year, so if your student will be an 8th grader, they likely already have these supplies. Please make sure your student has these supplies when we begin summer band rehearsals on July 21.

Thanks to all of those who auditioned for the HMS jazz band! We are super excited for the future of our jazz program at Hudson and are looking into the possibility of adding a 2nd jazz band this year as well. We will keep you updated once we've made that final decision.

Here is the roster of jazz students for 2025-2026.

Thanks to everyone who turned in applications to be a band aide for next year. We are so happy that so many of you want to serve the band in this way! Congratulations to this list of band aides for 2025-2026.

How many students have already said "I'm bored."?! We have something to occupy your time and give you something to make you less bored! Students who practice for an average of 4 days per week (at least 36 days of the summer), will be invited to an ice cream party at the end of the 1st week of school. Students should color in a fish for each day they practice for at least 20 minutes. Make sure you find your summer music packet above to have some music to work on! All Summer Practice Club papers are due by August 13th.

We had over 130 beginner band students this year who learned a ton, made us laugh, and represented our program so well at solo contest, All-Star auditions, and festivals and concerts. The Hawk Select Band even earned the Best In Class at the Epic Music Festival. They have such a bright future ahead!

We had the most advanced band students earn chairs in the GISD All-District and TMEA Region 3 All-Region Bands than any other school, more students than ever earned 1st divisions on their solos and were selected as Outstanding Soloists, and we were the ONLY GISD school to have all 3 advanced bands earn superior ratings on stage at UIL! It was a hugely successful year!

We made memories of a lifetime, taking our Wind Symphony Percussion Ensemble to perform at the Music for All National Festival in Indianapolis. They represented our school on a national stage for the very first time and performed with such poise and maturity. We are also incredibly proud of the Wind Symphony students for winning the region level of the Texas State Honor Band contest and moving on to the area competition. We all got out of our comfort zones this year and grew a ton!

Our 8th graders are leaving a lasting legacy and with almost 120 incoming 6th graders next year, our program is in a very healthy place. We are so thankful to the band parents who have served as chaperones, volunteered at school, helped with fundraisers, and supported us this year! We want to extend an extra special thank you to the parents who serve on our booster club board and work tirelessly to make sure our students have a great band experience at Hudson - we couldn't do it without them!

Although we are very sad to have both Mr. Neff and Mr. Urban leaving us this year, we are super excited for what's to come for our program with Mr. Clark and Ms. Ball stepping in to fill those assistant director positions next year. We are looking forward to the future and have big plans for ways to continue growing our students and our program!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing your wonderful children with us! We hope you all have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you on July 21st, after we've all recharged our batteries and spent some much-needed time relaxing!

Heather Becker - Director

Chris Clark - Assistant Director

Rachel Ball - Assistant Director (GISD email address coming soon!)

Sue Manaois - Percussion Director

Garrett Tucker - Percussion Director

Website: www.hudsonband.org
Phone: 972-675-3070
Facebook: facebook.com/hudsonmsband
Instagram: @hudsonhawkband