Hudson Hawk Band Updates

Week of 1/17/2023

All-Region Clinic/Concert

This Saturday, January 21st is the TMEA Region 3 All-Region Band Clinic/Concert for our students who earned a chair after the auditions back in November. The detailed information sheet can be found here.

Students will wear their Hudson Band concert/contest uniform (the same uniform they wore for the holiday concert in December). Lunch and dinner will be provided for all students on Saturday.

We will take a bus TO Forney/North Forney, but there will NOT BE A RETURN BUS after the concerts conclude. Parents will come out to watch these amazing performances and take your students home after the concerts conclude.

The bus TO Forney/North Forney will pick us up from Coyle Middle School (the district is providing the bus for us, but we must share it with Coyle and Schrade) on Saturday morning. We will be loading the bus at 7:45am, so please arrive at Coyle at 7:30am (no need to be there before that time, but do not be late as we HAVE to leave at 7:45am).

Advanced Band Solo Contest

Advanced Band students should have received a solo to work on before the winter break. They will all participate in the Solo Contest at Austin Academy on Saturday, February 25th. If you already know of a conflict with this date, you MUST communicate with Mrs. Becker before this Thursday, January 19th. We are able to request an early morning or late afternoon time slot for a small number of students, but must submit the request before the end of the week. Please only request a specific time if you know you have a conflict on this date that we can work around so your student can participate in both activities.

This performance is mandatory and each student will receive 2 test grades - one for their performance on the day of the contest and one for their preparation with the piano accompanist prior to the contest. Each student will perform their solo with a piano accompaniment and will have 2 opportunities to practice their solo with the accompanist the 2 weeks prior to the contest. They should be spending the majority of their practice time working on this solo.

Students who are academically ineligible (based on the Quarter 2 report card) are not allowed to perform at the contest. Instead, they will have a makeup performance at Hudson the week of March 6 (exact date TBD). Those students will be informed of their eligibility status this week.

WS & HB Spring Sectionals

Sectionals for Honors Band will continue this week. The sectional schedule for Honors Band can be found here.


Sectionals for Wind Symphony will begin this week. The sectional schedule for Wind Symphony can be found here. Wind Symphony sectionals will be every week this semester, as we are preparing for state level competitions and require more frequent small group rehearsals. Wind Symphony students - please check this document weekly to know what we will be working on in sectionals and so you can be prepared.


Sectionals are required for all students in both Honors Band and Wind Symphony. Grades are given for attendance and playing tests given during sectional time. Please do your best to arrange appointments outside of sectional days whenever possible. Thank you so much for your help with this!

Select Beginner Band Rehearsal

The Select Beginner Band group will have their first weekly rehearsal NEXT Monday (1/23) from 4:15-5:15pm. The Select Beginner Band is open to students who were invited last week and returned their signed contract with a parent signature.

Jazz Band

We will begin having Jazz Band rehearsals THIS week on Friday, January 20th. Jazz band rehearsal will end at 5:30pm on Friday. The group is open to students who received an invitation and turned in their contract with their parent's signature.

Lone Star Wind Orchestra Concert

For the students who signed up for the LSWO concert on Sunday, January 29, please make sure you have sent your $12 for the ticket this week. More details about the concert will come in next week's Smore, but we are purchasing the tickets this week on Tuesday, and need to have payments completed by then.

Winter Practice Challenge

We gave out a Winter Practice Challenge sheet just before the holiday break. The students are tasked with practicing for at least 20 minutes for 62 of the 77 days on the page. If they meet the challenge, they will be invited to a pizza and board game party the week before Spring Break. Parents must initial each snowflake (day) that they practice and all forms must be turned in on Monday, March 6th.

Find a copy of the Winter Practice Challenge form here.

School-Owned Instrument Usage Fees

If your student is using a school owned instrument (or is a percussionist), the school-owned instrument usage fee has been added to your student's Charms account. Woodwind and Brass players will now see a fall and spring fee for $25 each, or $50 for the whole year. Percussionists will see a fall fee for $25.

Oboes, bassoons, bass clarinets, tenor saxes, bari saxes, French horns, euphoniums, tubas, and the few students who play a different instrument that is owned by the school will see that fee now and can pay it by cash, check (made out to Hudson Band Boosters), or through Charms (using Paypal).

This fee was originally supposed to be paid in Skyward, but we are adjusting the process for ease of charge and payment.

If you have any questions or have any issues logging in to Charms to check on fees, please let me know and I am happy to help!

Spring Band Fees

Spring band fees are due on February 17th. Please check your student's Charms account to see balances due and to make payments via Paypal. You can also send checks (made out to Hudson Band Boosters), cash, or pay via credit card through our band website. If you choose to pay with a credit card through the band website, please use HawkBD2223 as the password.
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Repeat Information

Advanced Band Supplies

Please make sure your student in the Wind Symphony, Honors Band, or Symphonic Band have their required supplies for this year. We are using the Foundations for Superior Performance book in all band classes and many students do not yet have the book. We are also beginning to work on tuning and if your student does not still have their tuner/metronome from beginner band, they will need one ASAP.

BAND App Links

Because our band has grown so big, we can no longer use Remind. We have reached the maximum participants in multiple classes and do not have space for more unless we upgrade our account (which costs more than we wish to spend). We will be switching messaging services to the BAND app (which the Sachse HS band also uses) to align our cluster. Please sign up for the appropriate class(es) for your student. We will NO LONGER be using Remind, so if you were just signed up for band, you will not need that app/number any longer. Thanks for understanding!

22-23 ALL HMS Band Students/Parents

Beginner Band

Symphonic Band

Honors Band

Wind Symphony

22-23 HMS BAND PARENTS ONLY

Private Lessons Filling Up

Our private teachers are THE BEST and their schedules are starting to fill up. If you are going to sign up for private lessons, DON'T WAIT - TURN IN THE ENROLLMENT FORM ASAP.


The single biggest investment you can make in your student's musical advancement is signing them up for private lessons. Return the private lesson enrollment form to get your student started ASAP. Lessons are $20 each week and the fee is paid directly to the instructor.

Band Fees

Because our school band budget is so small, we have to charge a band fee so that we can provide the best music education experience for all our band students. This band fee covers all instructional materials (band binder and all its contents), band shirt, contest entry fees, solo accompanist fees, performance music, music theory subscription, transportation, meals before performances, incentive days, and so much more. We set up our band fees to be collected up front (or split into payments), so that we are not constantly asking for $5 here, $7 there, etc.


This year, you can pay band fees through cash or check (made out to Hudson Band Boosters), Paypal through Charms (watch this video to walk you through the Charms system), and for the first time - credit card through the band website. Visit the band website and enter the password HawkBD2223 to enter the secure page and pay online. Please consider adding the optional donation to your cart to cover the credit card fees we incur using this convenient service.


If you have a financial hardship, please communicate with us so we can help you. We never want a student to be unable to participate due to finances and will do everything we can to work with your family and ensure your student is included.

Log in to Charms

Please take a moment this week to log in to Charms. www.charmsoffice.com

Log in as a parent/student/member

The school code is hudsonsoundmachine

The password for first time users is your student's GISD ID number (should be 6 digits)

For non-first time users, your password should be your student's ID with their capitalized initials in front (i.e. HB123456) unless you've changed it to something else.

Please update contact information (add adults as necessary), check your student's birthday ID, instrument, etc. and make changes as necessary. If you have questions or have difficulty logging in, please contact Mrs. Becker.

About Us

Heather Becker - Director

Dan Urban - Assistant Director