Welcome

Dallas Trip Deposit

Important Dates and Times!

Tue, 9/1 (7:30 am): Early practice for students playing in the TEA performance (details below)
Thu, 9/3 (7:30 am): Early practice for students playing in the TEA performance (details below)
Fri, 9/4 (8:45 am): TEA Performance (details below)
Fri, 9/4: Deadline to submit the deposit for the Dallas orchestra trip (details below)
Fri, 9/4: Deadline to join waitlist for Los Angeles orchestra trip (details below)
Wed, 9/9 (7:15 am): Early practice for varsity orchestra
Wed, 9/9 (8:00 am): Early practice for varsity and non-varsity orchestra
Wed, 9/16 (6:30 pm): Fall orchestra concert at Austin High PAC
9/25-9/27: Orchestra trip to Dallas/Fort Worth (details below)
Sat, 10/24: Monster Concert at Austin High
1/14-1/18: Orchestra Spring Trip to Los Angeles (details below)

Register for Cut Time

If you have not yet registered with Cut Time, please use the following link to enter your personal information:
https://app.gocuttime.com/sr/TWEUL87R

The Austin High Orchestra Boosters use Cut Time to send weekly newsletters and share important program information. This year, Mrs. Heidi Gysan, Austin High Orchestra Booster Secretary, will send the weekly newsletter through Cut Time.

Orchestra Fundraiser

We’ve had new students create their Schoolfundr accounts this week—great news! Now we need to get those accounts working for us! Unfortunately, more than 1/3 of our orchestra students still have not entered a single email address.

Students who add emails are raising money! Schoolfundr sends the initial message and automated reminders, so once those contacts are entered, the system does much of the work. Our goal is 10-20 emails per student, but every email added increases our reach. Parents, please take a few minutes to help your student add family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and others who may want to support Austin High Orchestra!

Thank you to everyone who has already jumped in and supported our Schoolfundr campaign! Congratulations to the following students who have raised $1,000 or more for this fundraiser: James Maloney, Julian Warren, and Robert Bernard!

early Orchestra Fee and Instrument Rental

Please click on this link to the AISD website to pay your student’s $150 orchestra fee and $60 for instrument rental.  This money goes to the school directly. Please look for the violin icon when making a payment.

Fees and the instrument rental can also be paid by check (include your student’s name in the memo line) made payable to “Austin High Orchestra.” 

The deadline to pay the fee and instrument rental is September 30th. If a student needs help with these expenses, you may apply for a scholarship here.

Fees paid cover music for the whole year, orchestra performances, transportation for orchestra UIL and social events, contests fees, sectional coaches, clinicians, and other related items.

Uniform Requirements

Good news: We have new uniforms this year! Bad news: Many dresses and pants need to be hemmed before our first concert on September 16th. If slacks or dresses are too long, please check uniforms out and take them home to be hemmed. Many dry cleaners and tailors provide this service. Uniforms can be checked out from the uniform room after school and at Back to School Night on Tuesday, August 25.

Dress hemlines should graze the floor or top of the foot when standing in concert shoes. Slacks hemlines should graze the top of the dress shoes in the front and sit at the top of the shoe heel in the back. High school kids are still growing so when in doubt, err on the longer side. Please ask that extra material not be cut or otherwise permanently altered to maintain maximum flexibility for future students.

For uniform questions, contact Tracy Harp (tracyoharp@gmail.com).

TEA Performance

Twenty varsity orchestra students will be selected to perform at the TEA meeting on Friday, September 4th at the Barbara Jordan State Office Building located at 1601 North Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701. Students must arrive at Austin High by 7:00 am, will depart school at 7:15 am, and should be at the venue by 7:45 am. The performance starts at 8:45 am. Students will return to Austin High by 9:30 am.

We need adult volunteer drivers to help transport students and instruments from Austin High to the venue.  Drivers are welcome to stay and observe the meeting and performance. Here is the link to the volunteer form to sign up: TEA Drivers

Early practice for selected students will be at 7:30 am at Austin High on September 1st (Tuesday) and September 3rd (Thursday).

We’re excited about our Dallas Fall Orchestra Trip. Students will participate in a Masterclass at UT Arlington and campus tour along with a weekend filled with great experiences, including Six Flags, a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art, Medieval Times, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra featuring Idina Menzel.

To secure your spot on the Dallas Fall Trip, it is very important that you submit your $100 deposit by Friday, September 4th.

A $100 deposit is required to secure your spot on the trip and can be paid here.

When it asks for a tip, you can click on Custom, and then just make it $0. 

The approximate total trip cost is $395 per student.

Space is limited. Once our initial trip capacity is reached, additional students will be placed on a waiting list. Additional spots may become available as the trip plans are finalized. A deposit will not be collected for students on the waiting list.

If your student needs financial assistance, please use the scholarship link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfKbIdDcBB0EV5z18xDqIv4uiVHwRBmSS_rX1-g4GNEbraPFA/viewform

We WILL be needing some chaperones to go, so if parents are able to go, please put a deposit down for yourself on the trip as well. 

We are continuing fundraising efforts. Every donation helps our orchestra and could help offset the cost of the trip. Thank you for all of your help!

Los Angeles Spring Trip

Austin High Orchestra is headed to Los Angeles January 14–18, 2027! We hope our students are excited—and we hope some parents are ready to join us, too!

At this time, we are asking all interested families to join the trip waitlist. Joining the waitlist will help us determine student and parent/chaperone interest as we move forward with trip planning. You can also view the tentative trip itinerary at the bottom of the information page to get a sneak peek at everything we have planned!

How to Join the Waitlist:
Click “See Availability,” then “Join Waitlist,” and follow the directions from there. It will walk you through entering your contact information and selecting the appropriate package(s).

Joining the waitlist does not mean you are committing to the trip at this time. Right now, we want to get a strong sense of how many students and families are interested so we can continue moving forward with planning.

The private lessons offered by the instructors on this page are some of the most affordable you can find, and the instructors are wonderful. Please consider signing your child up. It can make a big difference in their progress, and how much they enjoy the orchestra program because of the confidence they develop. Payment for private lessons are made directly by parents to the private teacher and not the Austin High Orchestra.

Video Tutorials to Help Students Prepare for Region Auditions

Here are the links to video tutorials that students should watch and use this summer to help them prepare for the Region Auditions.

Violin Tutorials:
https://ensembleblock.com/portal/tmea-2026-2027-orchestra-violinhttps://ensembleblock.com/portal/tmea-2026-2027-orchestra-violin

Viola Tutorials:
https://ensembleblock.com/portal/tmea-2026-2027-orchestra-viola

Cello Tutorials:
https://ensembleblock.com/portal/tmea-2026-2027-orchestra-cello

Bass Tutorials:
https://ensembleblock.com/portal/tmea-2026-2027-orchestra-string-bass

Adult Orchestra Volunteers

The orchestra relies on adult volunteers for different events throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering or know you will be volunteering in the orchestra room and helping students, please submit an application on the AISD Voly site. Also check out our volunteer webpage for additional info.

Get Messages Using Remind

Please make sure that you and your student(s) sign up to get important messages and reminders. To sign up for Remind, compose a text message to the number 81010.

Camerata Orchestra: @a2aa82
Philharmonic & Recital Orchestras: @g4kcfc2
Chamber Orchestra: @hh2949
Orchestra Parents: @hak8gd

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Our Platinum Sponsors
Coming soon!

Our Gold Sponsors
Coming soon!

And thank you to the many orchestra families who have given so generously.

Scroll to Top