Greetings to all my Eagle friends out there! It’s January 9th, and it’s time for another weekly update of all things happening in Atascocita High School band world. Let’s start from the beginning.
AFTER SCHOOL SECTIONALS: Begin this week. Make sure to look at the sectional schedule located on the MAIN PAGE of the band website. Students involved in full orchestra will also be on Wednesday, TMEA AREA AUDITION RESULTS: Congratulations to Atascocita High School's 2023 TMEA All-State musician, Jacob Casilio. Jacob placed at top of the F Horn auditions with the best musicians in the area and was selected for a chair in the TMEA All-State Band. He will travel to San Antonio in February to perform with the TMEA All-State Band as a State Champion on his instrument. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. 1,830 students are selected through a process that begins with over 70,000 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of 18 ensembles sponsored by the Band, Orchestra, and Vocal Divisions. All-State students participate in three days of rehearsals directed by nationally recognized conductors during the annual state TMEA Clinic/Convention. Their performances before thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary event to a close. Congratulations Jacob! And we would also like to congratulate our Area band members who also performed today for the TMEA Area auditions and represented Atascocita High School so well. The band directors are very proud of you all. (side bar: congratulations to Humble High School for having not one but TWO All-Staters, for the first time since 1990. That is an amazing accomplishment, and we send our congratulations to Mr. Roberts and his crew over there!) DISNEY TRIP: We have the full itinerary, and it is going to be posted on the Disney Trip page. If you are a Disney trip student or parent, that will be located on the main website for you to access at any time you like. Click here to go to the main Disney Trip 2023 page to find the detailed itinerary. All communication about the Disney Trip is now about to be transferred to the BAND group specific to AHS Band Disney Trip. If you are a student, chaperone, or parent of a student going on the Disney trip, you will need to download the BAND App on your phone and add the AHS Band Disney Trip group to your phone to receive all of the updates. BAND PARENT BOOSTER MEETING: Since that Monday is a holiday, we are going to have our first official Band Parent Booster Meeting of the semester on January 17th. The Booster Board will meet at 6:30PM, and then the general session will take place at 7:00PM where ALL PARENTS are invited to attend. WE ALWAYS NEED HELP IN OUR PROGRAM, and your attendance will give you all the information on everything we are doing for this semester. Solo and Ensemble will be coming up soon, and we are still working out the details on that for our students. That’s all I got for this week. I hope that everyone has a really great second week back to school, and we will see you on the other side!
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Greetings, Eagle Family! And welcome to 2023! We had a very great first semester together, and now we are super excited for a second semester of all new events, competitions, performances, big trips, and so much more! It’s an exciting time to be an AHS band kiddo. Since we haven’t seen each other in quite some time, this first weekly update is going to be quite extensive, as it will get us kick-started on the major things that are happening this month. This update will cover:
Let’s begin! TMEA Area Auditions: Please click the button above for the itinerary for the TMEA Area Auditions, which are on Saturday at 10AM at Dekaney High School. This is for the band students who advanced to the next round for a chance to compete for TMEA All-State Band. After School Sectionals: Please click the button above for the new after-school sectionals schedule for the concert bands. All band students are required to attend their assigned sectionals after school. It’s only ONE out of the week, so that shouldn’t be too taxing on anyone. The spring semester gets a lot easier in terms of after school rehearsals. A few notes on after school things:
DISNEY TRIP: It’s fast approaching! I have a few updates regarding this trip:
ELIGIBILITY: The eligibility list will be going out soon, and we will be notifying band students of what their status is. If you lose your eligibility on this report card due to failing grades, you will have a chance to gain it back. If you do not gain your eligibility back at the end of January, then your ineligible status will stay in effect, which will knock you out of Disney Trip and UIL Solo and Ensemble. UIL SOLO & ENSEMBLE: That’s the next big thing for us. We will be wrapping up all of our UIL Solo and Ensemble planning sometime this week, and more information will be going out on that soon. The big thing for now is:
MIDDLE SCHOOL SIDE BY SIDE WITH WIND ENSEMBLE: An after-school event where the AHS Wind Ensemble will go and play side by side with the middle school band kiddos. Take a look at the dates and times below:
That’s a lot to kick off the year with, so that’s where we are going to stop for now. We hope that everyone has a really awesome first week back, and we are super excited to see you all! Greetings everyone! One more week until winter break! We've finally made it! It's been a super long semester a football games, practices, marching band competition, and so much more. But we are finally here at the end, and I think I speak for mostly everyone that the break coming up will be well deserved.
Here are a few announcements for this week, with information about Disney trip meetings if you missed it, winter band concert information, jazz band concert, and more. Last weekend on Friday and Saturday, selected members of the Atascocita High School band who auditioned and made the region band performed and rehearsed with some of the best students in the region as well as best conductors in our country. It was a marvelous concert, and we couldn't be more proud of our band students who represented our school so well. MONDAY DRESS REHEARSAL: in fine arts, a dress rehearsal is usually the last and final rehearsal before a big performance. The word dress means to address any final nuances of music, and it is often times confused with clothing. For today's dress rehearsal, it is just our last big rehearsal before the performance. Rehearsal times are:
Rehearsals are in the auditorium. TUESDAY CONCERT: this year's annual winter band concert will be on Tuesday December 13th at 7:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. All band students should be in the band hall no later than 6:00 p.m. All four bands will perform, and all bands will observe and support all performing ensembles until the concert is over. We anticipate that the concert will be an hour. 6:00pm is band student call time. Concert Band is going to start at 6pm on stage, and we will let the other bands know where their warmup areas are. Please see last week's update for concert attire. The students have options this time. WEDNESDAY JAZZ BAND CONCERT: this year's annual winter jazz band concert will be on Wednesday December 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The jazz band has been working super hard on an excellent program that we know you will all enjoy. Please come support them. Pro tip: don’t exempt band final. You will have wasted an exemption. That’s all we will say about that. That’s all for now. We will have more updates out on the BAND app soon. We are looking forward to seeing everyone for our concerts this week! The Atascocita HS football team was unfortunately defeated in their previous playoff game, and therefore our football marching band season has officially ended for the year. There will be no more football games until the next school year.
RECAP OF TMEA ALL-REGION RESULTS: The Atascocita High School Band is finished with TMEA Region Band Auditions, and we are pleased to announce some incredibly great news! The following students earned a spot in the TMEA All-District Band:
The following students earned a spot in one of the TMEA All-Region Bands and will perform next week in a clinic/concert with some of the best kids in the region:
The following students not only made a region band, but they also placed high enough to advance to compete in the next round of TMEA All-Area auditions for a chance at the coveted TMEA All-State Band:
Two students won 1st chair in their rooms and were champions on their instruments:
The following 9th grade students also competed on Tuesday and earned a chair in the TMEA Freshman Band:
In total, the Atascocita High School Band had a total of 44 spots earned, which is the highest of any school in all of our entire region. We are SUPER proud of everyone who participated in this year's TMEA Region Band auditions! TMEA Region Band Information: Students who made a region band will have information in their folders on rehearsal times and concert performance. The schedule of events for the kids who made a region band are as follows: Friday December 9, 2022
Saturday December 10, 2022
Concert Times: Dec 10, 2022
DISNEY TRIP MEETING: Our mandatory meeting has been rescheduled for December 8 Thursday at 7:00PM in the high school auditorium to go over absolutely every single possible detail that goes into pulling off a trip that is hundreds of miles away. We will go over in full detail the Disney trip handbook that has every single item necessary for a fun and safe trip. Here are a few big Disney notes to prepare yourself for:
Greetings Eagle Family! This weekly update will be super short and sweet, because I present to you.... The Itinerary of Itineraries! It is another super fun-filled week of band goodness, with football playoffs, TMEA region band auditions, and more. You will need to download this itinerary above and have it ready for the whole entire week.
This week, we have:
I go into a lot of very specific detail on every little thing that's happening in the itinerary, so please refer back to it often. There is a whole lot happening this week, and I wanted it to be as concise and easily understood as possible. Make sure to stay tuned to the BAND app often, as I will be constantly posting updates on how things are going this week and if there's any fluctuations to the schedule that might happen. A lot of band students have been working very hard all year long to prepare for TMEA Region Band auditions, and we wish them the very best of luck this week! On top of that, we also have a Friday night Football Playoff game, as the AHS varsity football team has advanced to the next round of playoffs. One big note I want to make on here is this: As of this day, no band student will be allowed to leave campus before departure time of any events. The expectation is that you stay on campus. The Boosters provide you playoff game meals free of charge, so please take advantage of it. This is for YOUR safety - there is way too much that can possibly go wrong when you are not here with us, and we want you and your parents to be guaranteed of your safety. Therefore, there will be no Google Form asking about meals - the expectation is that you will be here and you'll have the meal that the Boosters provide. I will ask the Boosters to mark off who had one on the list and who didn't for accountability purposes. I take the student safety thing very seriously. That's all I got for now. I'll have more later, but get the itinerary and have it close to you this week! Good luck everyone this week, and I'll see you on the other side! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope that you have an amazing break this week. Here is your update for the week of November 21st.
There is no school this week and no rehearsal, but there are a few things coming up: FRIDAY FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: AHS vs. Ridge Point, located at the Cypress Berry Center. Friday November 25th - 7 pm kickoff. An itinerary will go out soon.
I'd like to discuss next week though, because there is a lot going on. Next week is super busy though! The next week dates are:
A lot more information will be going out next week. In the meantime, we hope that you all enjoy your time with your families this Thanksgiving. Have a great restful week, and we will see you at the playoff game Friday! Good morning, Eagle family! Here is your update for the week of November 14, 2022.
FRIDAY FOOTBALL: The Atascocita Football team has won their previous game and has advanced to the next round in the playoff series. Here are the details:
Link to the playoff game ticket is below: https://gofan.co/app/events/787521?schoolId=TX25492 REGION ORCHESTRA: Congratulations to the following band students who earned a spot and performed in this year’s TMEA All-Region Orchestra! The performances were outstanding, and we enjoyed hearing our band students play with the best of the best in the region for orchestral music.
DISNEY TRIP: I am starting to put together a whole bunch of stuff for the Disney trip that is scheduled to kick off on February 2 that Thursday. We will have a mandatory meeting on November 28th at 7:30PM in the high school cafeteria to go over absolutely every single possible detail that goes into pulling off a trip that is hundreds of miles away. We will go over in full detail the Disney trip handbook that has every single item necessary for a fun and safe trip. Here are a few big Disney notes to prepare yourself for:
**Veterans Day Performance is THURSDAY, not Friday. VETERANS DAY **THURSDAY**: The HS Wind Ensemble (varsity band) will be playing at the Veterans Day memorial service.
We will have more information coming out on the BAND app band page as time goes on. But that’s it for now. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email at any time. rxbest@humbleisd.net Greetings Eagle Family! It’s time for this week’s update for November 7, 2022. We’ve got everything you need to know about this week right here.
FRIDAY FOOTBALL GAME: The football team has advanced to playoff rounds. We will play Deer Park High School on Friday November 11. It is an AWAY game at Abshire Stadium on the Deer Park High School South campus. The address is located in the itinerary on the main band website - www.atascocitaband.com THURSDAY REHEARSAL 3:15 to 6:00: So that we can prepare for a new show for the game. We have a lot of new stand tunes we want to hand out to everyone and play through, And we also want to make our drill on the field and practice the new show that we will do for Friday. Therefore, we do need the full time on Thursday. We can do everything we need to do with just one rehearsal this week, so Monday Tues and Weds, there are no after school rehearsals those days. TUESDAY STUDENT HOLIDAY: Tuesday, students are off from school. Staff will still be here for a workday. There is no Booster meeting this week or the next week. TMEA REGION ORCHESTRA: For the kiddos who advanced and are going:
Our first DISNEY TRIP MEETING is November 28th Monday in the HS CAFETERIA. We will also hold a General Band Parent Booster Meeting at that time to go over important information pertaining to the program. All band students and parents traveling on the trip are required to be here for this meeting - it is a non-negotiable if you are traveling. Important documentation pertaining to the trip and required forms will be provided on that day.
Here are the upcoming calendar dates left on our event list:
Good morning Eagle family! This is the week of October 31st. Happy Halloween! There’s no video update this week - my kid is out sick, so I am here at home taking care of him. Make sure to wash your hands super regularly, because a stomach bug is going around everywhere. Which reminds me - don’t share water jugs. That’s pretty nasty.
Okay, let’s go over the items for this week now! CONTEST RECAP: As I mentioned in my previous BAND app announcement, The Atascocita Military Marching Band should be super proud of their performance at UIL Area Marching Contest this year. The kids worked super hard this season, and the directors couldn’t be any more proud of our kids and their accomplishments this year. REDUCED REHEARSAL SCHEDULE: The rehearsal schedule has now reduced significantly. Starting this week, we will only practice on Thursdays, and it will be at 3:15 and will only be to practice with the dance team for 15 minutes. We will have some Thursdays when we will need a little additional time to learn a new "fun" show for the playoff games. NEXT UP: So what’s next for the AHS Band? There’s TMEA Region Orchestra auditions (happening today), there’s TMEA All-Region Band auditions, TMEA Freshman band auditions, winter concert, football playoff games, pep rallies, and much much more. As these next few weeks go on, we will have more information coming out. FRIDAY PEP RALLY! For this coming Friday, make sure to have your pep rally uniform:
Remember - the pep rally can be chaotic around us. The band represents 100% pride in our self-discipline, so please do not add more to the chaos around you - especially since the senior class is close to us. The band directors would like to remind the band students what our job is - to play our instruments as musical ambassadors of school spirit. FRIDAY FOOTBALL GAME: It’s at Turner stadium against Summer Creek. The itinerary is going to be identical to every other home game we’ve had so far, but I’ll send out another one with the updated date/location/football team. For the TMEA Region Orchestra Auditions happening today, the itinerary was posted on the BAND app. If you are auditioning, make sure that you are at the band hall right after school. A charter bus will be sending us there, and HISD yellow busses will be taking us back. Make sure that you bring money for the concession stands to eat food/dinner during the day while we are there. That’s all we have for this week. Greetings Eagle Family! Here is your update for the week of October 24th! And it’s an exciting week!! We are so very excited to present the Atascocita High School Military Marching Band at their UIL area playoff competition at Galena Park Stadium this week. Let’s go over all the things now:
Rehearsals:
We have a Friday rehearsal scheduled on the AHS football field (Thanks, Coach Stump!) for our team to prepare for Area. The rehearsal will be on Friday because we have a…… Thursday Football Game!: it’s essentially the same schedule as the Thursday game week of the UIL regional marching contest. Thursday we play North Shore HS at our home stadium Turner. An itinerary will go out this week, and look for it to be almost identical to most home game schedules we’ve had with a rehearsal run-through and then departure to the stadium that day. Saturday UIL Area Marching Contest: The band has advanced to UIL area marching contest on October 29th. The itinerary is available online, so please be sure to go over all of the itinerary because it is a rather long day and uniquely different from every other contest we have gone to.
The itinerary is going to be discussed in full detail to all students in class so that they understand what is expected this Saturday. Rehearsals after Area: Pending how we do at UIL Area marching contest this Saturday, potentially our competitive season might or might not end. If we advance past this, our rehearsals will continue with the same schedule up to November 7th. If our competitive season ends at Area and we do not advance past this, our rehearsals will reduce significantly. We will reduce down to only Thursday, and it will be from 3:45 to 4:45. This is just to get practice time with the drill team and to go over our new fun show we will do in place of our previous military drill. (more on that later) Next week, TMEA Region Orchestra: On Monday October 31st, several band students will compete at Spring High School for a chance to be selected for the TMEA All-Region Orchestra. This was a sign-up about three weeks back. If your child has signed up to participate, we have entered them into the contest, and the district has paid their way to go. An itinerary of the day will go out soon once we get more information back from our region about that.
The best thing you can do is continuously check out the calendar located on the www.atascocitaband.com band website. It is always up to date with all the things that we will be doing as a program. That does it for this really busy week! The band directors are super proud of all of our band students! They have worked extremely hard all year long, and now the end of our season is closely coming up as we will be making the transition to sit-down band with chairs and stands to get ready for our first concert performance of the year - the Winter Band Concert, on December 13th. |
BRIAN BESTDirector of Bands, Atascocita High School Archives
April 2024
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