Hudson Hawk Band Updates

Week of 1/9/2023

Happy New Year & Welcome Back!

Happy New Year! 2022 just flew by and we are thrilled to be back for the spring semester. We hope you all enjoyed a restful holiday break with family and friends. We have a lot of contests, festivals, performances, and new groups starting this semester! It is an exciting time, but also one requiring diligent practice and committment. More details are provided below.

Lone Star Wind Orchestra Concert

We have the opportunity to see one of the premier professional bands in the state and nation in a few weeks. We can get 45 tickets to their concert on Sunday, January 29. Tickets are $12 each and will be given out on a first come, first served basis. We will take a bus to and from the performance - the bus will leave Hudson at 2:00pm and will return at approximately 5:15pm.

Because of the quick turnaround to order these tickets, students who wish to purchase a ticket must fill out this form AND bring $12 cash or check (made out to Hudson Band Boosters) by Wednesday, January 11.

More details about the concert can be found here.

WS & HB Spring Sectionals

Sectionals for Honors Band will begin next week (January 9). The sectional schedule for Honors Band can be found here.


Sectionals for Wind Symphony will begin the week of MLK (January 17). 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.


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!

Inaugural Select Beginner Band

On Monday, we will give out invitations to some Beginner Band students for our inaugural Select Beginner Band group. If your student would benefit from a more rigorous beginner band experience, they will likely be invited to be a part of this group. The Select Beginner Band group will have weekly after school rehearsals every Monday from 4:15-5:15pm. The first rehearsal will take place on January 23. A contract with the expectations and requirements, as well as a place for a parent signature, will be give to the invited students on Monday. Those contracts (with a parent signature) will be due next Friday, January 13.

Jazz Band

We will begin having Jazz Band rehearsals next week on Friday, January 13th. Select students will be invited to participate in the jazz band. Those students will receive a permission slip with expectations, dates, etc. on Monday. In order to participate in Jazz Band, parents must sign the permission slip and students must agree to commit to weekly Friday after school rehearsals from 4:15-5:30pm. Jazz Band invitations will be given to advanced band students who play saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and percussion (to begin with). If we are unable to fill the jazz band with those instruments, we will open the group to non-traditional jazz instruments.

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.

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. 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 next week.

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.

Fun Times and Celebrations Before Break

Big picture

Celebrating the last section and students of the week for 2022

We are proud of the Wind Symphony euphoniums - they are super solid every single day. They work really hard, rehearse at a high level, and ALL of them made both the All-District AND All-Region bands!


Athan moved in during the semester and has done an incredible job in trumpet class. He is always respectful, has a positive attitude, and makes improvements every day. We are so glad he is here!


Jackson did an amazing job holding down the bell part at the beginner band concert. He was prepared in rehearsal, played confidently, and never missed a beat. He is a rockstar!

Big picture

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