HHS BAND WEEKLY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 5-11, 2026

Things We Like

Section Spotlight:  Our flute section brings bright sound, great teamwork, and upbeat energy to every performance! Follow them on Instagram @hhs_flutes7

​Schedule Of The Week

Monday:  No School!
Tuesday: First Day of 2nd semester.  Wind Ensemble 4-5:30 pm.  JV Guard 4-6:00  Varsity Guard 6-8:30 pm.  
Wednesday:  Varsity Guard 4-5 pm.  JV Guard 5-6 pm.
Thursday: Wind Ensemble 4:00-5:30 pm.
Friday:  Volunteer Pep Band for Men's and Women's Huntsville vs. Grissom Basketball Game.  5:30 pm - 9:00 pm.  Sign up in the band room!

**HHS is hosting the Alabama Orchestra Association North Region Honor Orchestra this weekend in the auditorium and band room!**


ADULT AND STUDENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!!
Once again Huntsville High School Band is providing a huge service to our band community by hosting the Alabama Bandmasters Association's District 1 all state and honor band auditions, which will take place after school / evening on Friday, January 30th and morning/afternoon of Saturday, January 31st.  We usually have 700-800 middle and high school band students from Madison, Morgan, and Limestone attend over these two days.  We are one of the largest districts in Alabama.

All band students will be required to serve a shift of time and will sign up in the band room soon.

We also need approximately 12 adults running registration and a few adults helping with hospitality.  In the coming newsletters, information will be available to sign up.  

Pizza will be provided around meal times for those volunteering.

Winter Camp 2026
Our annual concert band camp will take place Thursday evening, February 12th; all day on Friday, February 13th; and Saturday morning, February 14th.  It will conclude with a "work in progress" concert at noon on Saturday that we invite parents to come to!  Detailed information will be sent out as we get closer.

It is a required event for all band students (excluding color guard). 

Our guest clinicians this year are:
Dr. Albert Nyugen, Director of Bands University of Memphis
Dr. Craig Aarhus, Assistant Director of Bands, Mississippi State University
Mr. Patrick Dailey, Director of Bands at Arab High School
The University of North Alabama Instrumental Music Faculty.

Winter Guard 
 Please look at the winter guard schedule here.

We would love to have some color guard student volunteers serve as ushers at the winter concert on Monday night.  Be here by 6:15 pm!

Winter Guard is looking for a parent or parent(s) to tow our band trailer to our competitions this year.  Please email Mrs. Morales (Rizzardi) if you can commit to any of these dates.  [email protected]

January 31 - Mortimer Jordan HS (Bham area)
Feb 7 - Hoover HS
February 21 - Bob Jones HS
March 7 - Columbia Central - Columbia, Tennessee
March 28 and 29 - Western Kentucky University.  Bowling Green Kentucky.  

Summer Dates and Band Camp 2026
May 26-29 (Tues - Friday)  Color Guard Camp (Color Guard Only)
June 30 - July 2 Leadership Camp (leadership team only)
July 13-14 (Mon-Tues) 9th grade marching band students, leadership team, all percussion, all color guard.
Wednesday, July 15 - Monday, August 3 Band Camp - All Marching Band Students (excluding weekends)
**Friday, July 24th  Optional DCI Trip to Nashville (afternoon and evening)
Tuesday, August 4th - Parent Preview Performance (evening)
Wednesday, August 5th First Day of School (pending school board approval - this is not official yet).

Spring Training / Audition Dates for Spring 2026
Wednesday, January 28th - 8th grade band student day at Huntsville High (all 8th grade band students from HJHS and HCMS will come over during the morning.
Tuesday, February 17 6:00 pm - Parent and Student Informational Meeting for 8th grade students/parents
April 7-9 - Concert Band Auditions for 26-27 during class (8th grade after school).
Monday, April 20 - April 24 Color Guard Auditions
THURSDAY, April 30 Spring Training -  4:00- 6:00 pm. Music! (all winds and percussion)
Monday, May 11th Spring Training 4:00-7:00 pm. Marching Fundamentals (leadership and 8th graders) and Percussion Placements (all marching percussion)
Tuesday, May 12th Percussion Placements 4-7 (all marching percussion)
Wednesday, May 13 Spring Training 4:00-7:00 pm Marching Fundamental (leadership and 8th graders)
Monday, May 18th Spring Training 4:00-7:00 pm.  Marching Fundamentals (leadership and 8th graders

 Spring Trip  (Rooming list - Updates)
On Monday, January 12th we will post rooming lists for students in the band room!  Please plan ahead for a room of 4 students - make sure everyone in your room is committed to the room then sign up.  If 3 people sign up for a room, there is a high probability a 4th person will be added to your room.
ADULTS - if you are paying as a single room, you are set.  All other adults will be 2 to a room - if adults have a room mate request with another adult chaperone attending please email Tawnita Cheek, our booster club trip coordinator at [email protected] 

Family members (husband/wife/younger siblings) will automatically be placed together in a family room, so no need to send us that request.  

We have officially been approved for the Orlando trip departing Wednesday evening March 11th and returning Monday morning, March 16th.  Full information on this trip is found in Cut Time in an announcement/email message from August 19th.

Make sure you are making your scheduled payment directly to the travel company using the link below.  If you miss 2 payments in a row, it is the policy of the travel company to remove your name from the trip.  If you are waiting to pay due to fundraising credits, please make sure you let us know [email protected]
  
HUNTSVILLE HS BAND in Orlando, FL, USA


College Corner
Universities often offer marching band days, instrument days, and honor bands as a way to give high school students additional opportunities and recruit for their university.  If you are interested in doing one of these events, they are generally marked as an administrative absence or field trip (excused by the school).  I would be happy to do a form or recommendation to get anyone involved if you are interested.  I will attempt to post SOME of the events offered in our state and area, but there are many so not everything will get posted on here!  It's a great chance to meet new people, experience college music, and see a university you may be interested in attending in the future.  The vast majority of events are open to all high school students (grades 9-12).  

UAH Honor Band: January 22-24  https://www.uah.edu/ahs/departments/music/ensembles/honor-band 
UAB Honor Band December 11-13th  UAB High School Honor Band Festival - UAB Bands
University of Alabama Honor Band Feb 5-7   High School Honor Band – The University of Alabama Bands (application coming soon)
Auburn University Honor Band Feb 27-March 1 Auburn University High School Symphonic Honor Band
Tri-State Honor Band (University of Tennessee Chattanooga) - UTC Tri-States Honor Band | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
UNA Honor Band:  April 24-26.... UNA Invitational Honor Band
Mississippi State Honor Band 2026 MSU Honor Band Clinic Audition Information | The Famous Maroon Band

Upcoming Dates
January 28th - 8th grade band day (all 8th band grade students coming to visit us)
January 30-31 - All State / District Honor Band Auditions at Huntsville High (we will need lots of student and adult volunteers!!)
January 31 - Winter Guard Competition at Mortimer Jordan HS (Varsity and JV)
February 7 - Winter Guard Competition at Hoover HS (varsity and JV)
February 12-14   Winter Camp (all band students required excluding color guard)

The 25-26 Band Schedule can be found here and on the Cut Time calendar.

Questions/Concerns?  Please contact the following:
Grades, missing rehearsals/absences, conflicts, instruments, general band questions - [email protected] or [email protected]
For color guard, contact Annabelle Rizzardi at [email protected]
If you have any of the following issues, please direct your questions to [email protected]. They’ll be able to guide you to the appropriate point of contact.

• Band Student Account Balances, band fees
• Business or Individual Sponsorships
• Fundraising Questions 
• Volunteering/Chaperones 
• Cut Time, Band App, or Social Media Questions 
• Senior Night 
• Uniforms (except color guard uniforms)  
• Percussion 
• General Band Boosters Questions ​

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​Thank You To Our 2026 Sponsors!

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