THE Houston Band

Hello Houston Band family,

I hope everyone is either safely at their travel destinations or cozy at home (or as cozy as you can be when it's in the 70s this time of year)! I walked our dog Dolly in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops (me, not Dolly), and it was simultaneously beautiful and really upsetting!

I have finally caught up on sleep enough to share how proud I am of all of our young musicians and send out announcements for next semester. I am an awe of the perseverance of our Wind Ensemble students on our very tough holiday tour, the growth of our symphonic band students in their preparation for the holiday concert, and precision of our color guard students at the holiday parade, and the effort from all members across the board. Seeing the joy on student performers' faces as they share the beautiful fruits of their labor is an absolute gift this time of year.

I couldn't be prouder of these young musicians-in-training, and I'm excited to see where they'll take our band next semester and beyond. I wish you all well, and I'll--wait for it...--see you next year!!

With excitement and gratitude,

Mr. C

There are several major events in the second semester. Please plan accordingly! As a reminder, please check out our Google Calendar and sync it with your own calendars! https://www.thehoustonband.com/calendar

Jan 10 & Jan 11: Color Guard Drill Camp (1/10: 9am-5pm, 1/11 10am-4pm) - communicate any conflict ASAP!

Jan 28-Feb 1: Universal Orlando Trip (only for students who have registered for the trip via Education Travel Adventures

Feb 5-7: University of Memphis Honor Band (only for students who will be nominated by me in the coming weeks--send me an email if you want to go to this great event!)

Feb 12-14: WTSBOA Band and Orchestra Clinic (only for students who auditioned into the ensemble)

Feb 21: CPA Mini Camp (mandatory for all students in the Wind Ensemble)

Feb 24: CPA Preview Concert @ HMS

March 12 or 13: Concert Performance Assessment @ UofM (during school day)

March 3 or 4: MIA Colorguard Championships - date TBA

April 9-12: All State Conference (only for students who auditioned into All State ensembles)

Spring Concert: I apologize for the delay on our concert announcement for the spring. We're exploring several very cool venues and opportunities. The concert will be on on of the following dates. Please keep them open and communicate if you have a conflict with ANY of them ASAP: April 30, May 1, May 5, or May 6.

May 8: Graduation Orchestra performance

If your student is attending all west, please send in your check for $275 made payable to Houston Band Boosters ASAP (ideally by Jan 3). Our amazing boosters slightly subsidize the cost of students who make All West and All State, but we do have to ask for this amount. If you need an extended deadline or payment plan, please reach out to me.

If your student is attending all state, please send in your check for $275 made payable to Houston Band Boosters by March 31st.

We are still waiting on a bit over $9,000 of outstanding dues to be paid. Please make sure you continue to chip away at your balance if you have not yet paid dues in full.

Our school district provides a bit over $60,000 to run our program each year, and as we ramp back up to a full-sized band, we aim to spend about $250,000 annually on our programming. Nothing we do is cheap--bus transportation, staffing, instruments, repair, contest entry, uniform maintenance, show design, etc. Please do your part by paying dues. Students that do not pay dues will not be able to participate in any extracurricular band activities in the next school year. Seniors that do not pay dues may not be able to participate in certain extracurricular band opportunities this semester. Please reach out ASAP if you are behind, and we can sort out a plan.

If you would like to "Give the Gift of Band" to a student in need of some help with a payment ($250) or full dues ($500), please reach out!

If your student made all west, please consider helping out by volunteering to help serve dinner on Thursday or Friday OR help out by supervising students during the Friday concert. Reach out to me if you're able to help!

If you are a handy individual who wants to contribute to our band, we are working on two projects this Spring.

1) Overhauling the trailer over this off-season to better serve the needs of our program

2) Building about a dozen bench props for next year's show

If you'd like to help, please reach out to Mr. Sims and me. brian.sims@gmsdk12.org; kevin.carpenter@gmsdk12.org

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.

If you're unhappy with chair placements or all west results, please consider asking about private lessons. Mr. Sims and I are happy to give all students a few free one-on-one lessons each year before or after school. We are also happy to provide recommendations for great lessons teachers in the area for students that want to push themselves further as individual musicians. Our core goal as a band is ensemble musicianship, and lessons are a great way to supplement that instruction.

Private lessons make a great gift and can help students secure potential music scholarships and honors ensemble experiences! All five of our All-State students this year are enrolled in regular private lessons.

CONGRATULATIONS to the fifty students that made the All West list this year! That's almost half of our band!! We can't wait to go downtown and represent Houston High School at this annual event. For folks' who are going with us for the first time, we stay downtown overnight. Find a rough outline of what that event looks like below:

Thursday early morning: Jazz students arrive, drop off bags, blue band students audition for All-State, begin rehearsals. Jazz students should pack an easy lunch for this day

Thursday late morning: All other students arrive (eat before arriving!), drop off bags, start rehearsals

Thursday evening: Students check into their hotel rooms and are served dinner at the hotel

Thursday night: More rehearsals, followed by room check

Friday morning: Breakfast in your room (most people bring pastries/fruit/etc., but you can also buy breakfast in the hotel lobby), followed by rehearsals

Friday late morning/early afternoon: Students walk to Texas de Brazil together and eat lunch

Friday afternoon: More rehearsals

Friday evening: Students are served dinner at their hotel

Friday night: Orchestra and jazz concerts (all HHS students attend the concert)

Saturday morning: All other band concerts, students dismissed to parents after conclusion of concert

While all west audition fees are included in every student's band dues, all west clinic fees are not. We will have an exact amount to send out soon, but we anticipate this year's clinic/hotel/food for each student costing approximately $250-$300. Ideally, students will pay this before the clinic, but if people need a payment plan that goes through the second semester, that's fine. Just communicate ahead of time. We lean on the side of charging a little under the anticipated cost, with our amazing boosters covering anything that goes over.

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! The student who purchases the costume is allowed to wear it in the Germantown Holiday Parade this year if desired!

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

• 12/9/25 - GMSD holiday band tour
• 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!!
• 2/5/26-2/7/26 - UofM Honor Band
• 2/12/26-2/14/26 - WTSBOA All West Clinic
• 2/21/26 - CPA/Festival Mini Camp (@ HHS, all day)
• 2/24/26 - Festival Preview Performance (@HMS)
• 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, May 6 (awaiting venue confirmation)
• 5/8/26 - Graduation Orchestra

• 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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