South Central District Festival

 

Each year the South Central District Bandmasters Association shall sponsor a Senior High School and a Middle School/Junior High Band

Contest/Festival for schools throughout the South Central District, Grades I - VI.

 

A Concert Festival Chairman for each of the two Concert Festivals shall be appointed each year by the SCDBA Board of Directors.

 

Persons interested in serving in these capacities should notify the Chairman in writing prior to the Spring Meeting of the Board of

Directors.

 

I. Eligibility

 

A.   All Band Directors participating in the South Central District Band Contest/Festivals must be in good standing of SCDBA, MENC and NCMEA.

B.   Middle School/Junior High School Bands must consist of students regularly enrolled in that Middle School/Junior High School Band.

C.   Students over 21 years of age are not eligible for participation.

 

II. Registration

 

A.   Middle School/Junior High or Senior High School Bands may register for the Contest/Festival in any Grades I - VI.

B.   Registration blanks must be completed and mailed to the Contest/Festival Chairman with fees on or before the stated deadline 30 days prior to the date of the Contest/Festival.

C.   Registration fees will be $175.00 for each band participating in the Contest/Festival. Notification of withdrawal must be postmarked no later than 30 days prior to the Contest/Festival, if a refund is expected.

D.   Registration fees may be altered by a majority of the SCDBA general membership to become effective the following year.

 

III. Duties of the Chairman

 

A.   Serve as host for the Contest/Festival.

B.   Publish information concerning the Contest/Festival for all participating Band Directors. Information will be sent to directors via the districtÕs yahoo group and on the districtÕs website.

C.   Plan the date and schedule for Contest/Festival. (Date must be approved by the Board of Directors by the Spring Meeting.)

D.   Be responsible for all logistics pertaining to the Contest/Festival.

E.   Secure judges for the Contest/Festival from a list which has been submitted by the judgesÕ selection committee, from the general list approved by the general membership. (Judges must be active or retired Band Directors.)

F.   Prepare the program for the Contest/Festival.

G.   Collect all Contest/Festival fees.

H.   Maintain an up-to-date list of music played by all Bands for a period of four years.

I.    Keep accurate financial records of all fees collected, all required expenditures, etc., and make a financial report to the Treasurer of NCMEA and SCDBA as well as the District Chairman within forty five (45) days after completion of the Concert Festival.

J.    Remit any surplus money to the Treasurer of NCMEA within forty-five (45) days after completion of the Concert Festival.

K.   Pay the judgesÕ fees at the conclusion of the Concert Festival.

L.    Obtain from the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of NCMEA adjudicator sheets, financial reports, contest certificates, etc.

M.  Send the ratings to the SCDBA webmaster (for posting on the SCDBA website), NCBA President, and the SCDBA District Chairman.

N.   To pass on all Concert Festival information and material to the next chairman.

O.  Keep a copy of the performing bandsÕ four-year contest repertoire list with the information from each yearÕs festival for a period of four years.

 

 

Below are the NCBA rules governing the Concert Band Festival.

 

North Carolina Bandmasters Concert Band

Festival Rules

 

PURPOSE: To provide students and teachers a means of receiving constructive comment by competent  judges. To stimulate and recognize growth. To provide students and teachers a means of hearing the work done by other school groups.

 

1. ELIGIBILITY:

 

*          A. All band directors must be current members of the North Carolina Music Educators Association.

*          B. Band members must be regularly enrolled in a band class according to the school administrative unit. Lower grade students may be used to round out the instrumentation, but not the reverse.

*          C. The band director that appears on the class roster at a school as the teacher must be a member of NCMEA and register all students to participate in all state sanctioned events.

 

2. ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE:

 

*          A. Each district will have a Concert Festival Chairperson elected by the band directors of that district. Each district must notify the State Concert Festival Chairperson who the District Concert Festival Chairperson is by the end of the Fall In-Service Conference.

*          B. Those persons who are presently serving as a concert festival chairperson in a district will continue to serve at the pleasure of the district.

*          C. The concert festival in each district must be held before April 15 each year. In the event of extreme weather conditions which require a cancellation of a festival, the festival district chair may apply to the State Festival Chairperson for an extension of this date.

*          D. The District Concert Festival Chairperson will contact the Executive Director of NCMEA to obtain concert festival financial and administrative materials.

*          E. The State Concert Festival Chairperson will be the President-Elect of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association. His responsibility shall be to direct and assist the District Concert Festival Chairperson and will have the authority to govern all concert festival activity in the state.

 

3. REGULATIONS:

 

*          A. No student may enter both junior high school and senior high school levels in the same year. Ninth Grade Bands should go to the festival where the Ninth Grade Band is housed. (If the Ninth Grade is housed at a middle school then the band should go to the middle school festival of their district.)

*          B. Bands may enter for comments only. Sight-reading will be optional for these bands.

*          C. Where a school has more than one band, duplication of personnel will be permitted so long as the literature and instrument is not the same.

*          D. No band may enter more than one district concert festival.

*          E. Any band which performs music not on the North Carolina Bandmasters Association approved list for the year will not receive comments or a rating from the judges.

*          F. Bands are required to refrain from preparing any composition for concert festival more than once within a four year period.

*          G. Any school district finding it necessary to combine bands for concert festival must receive permission from the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association at the Fall In-Service Conference.

*          H. Bands are required to refrain from using any electronic equipment designed to amplify the sounds of instruments, or which will alter the pitch or tone quality of the instrument. Music may be performed using the instrumentation and any special effects, electronic or otherwise, that the composer or arranger intended.

*          I. If a director submits a letter and uses copied scores then the director has a binding contract with the music dealer. A letter stating such will be sent to the principal and director.

 

4. REGISTRATION

 

*          A. Senior High and Junior High Bands will register in their designated districts.

*          B. Exception to Rule 4-A: Bands may cross district lines upon receiving written release from their district concert festival chairperson and written permission from the district concert festival chairperson where they wish to enter. If problems occur, the director should contact the state concert festival chairperson, who shall intervene and make a final decision.

*          C. Registration blanks must be completed and mailed with fees enclosed, to the district concert festival chairperson. The envelope must have a postmark showing that the materials were mailed on or before the stated deadline of thirty days (30) days prior to the first day of concert festival.

*          D. The band director whose name appears on the class list as the teacher must be in attendance or their students will not be allowed to participate.

 

5. FEES

 

*          A. All concert festival registration fees will be determined by each district upon the approval of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association.

*          B. Notification of withdrawal must be postmarked no later than thirty (30) days before the contest date if a refund of fees is expected.

 

6. PERFORMANCE:

 

*          A. All bands are required to furnish three conductorÕs scores of each composition prepared for concert festival and present them to the concert festival chairperson upon arrival. Only published scores will be permitted unless permission is obtained from the publisher. All scores presented to the chairperson must be numbered by measure.

*          B. Timing (includes staging and performance) Groups I, II - twenty-five (25) minutes; Groups III, IV - thirty (30) minutes; Group V - thirty-five minutes; Group VI - forty (40) minutes. Groups requiring more than the specified time for their group level must apply in writing to the State Festival Chairperson sixty (60) days prior to their respective festival requesting permission for an extended time. Warm up times will be: Groups I, II - twenty-five (25) minutes; Groups III, IV - thirty (30) minutes; Group V - thirty-five minutes; Group VI - forty (40) minutes. Bands may be required to perform at an adjusted time but the entire warm-up time must be given to each band.

*          C. Each band must prepare a march of the directorÕs choice and two (2) compositions from the Official North Carolina Bandmasters Association Music List. One composition must be from the classification as registered, the other composition may be from the same classification or from the next higher classification.

*          D. Each band director must submit to the proper concert festival chairperson the following: four copies of the list of the march and the two (2) concert selections which the band is prepared to play; three copies of a list of the bandÕs instrumentation; a repertoire sheet listing all selections prepared for the concert festival during the past four (4) years. These lists must be submitted at least one hour before the band is scheduled to play. It is strongly urged that the band director leave a copy of the repertoire sheet on file at his/her own school.

 

7. SIGHT READING:

 

*          A. Sight reading will be required of all bands in Grades II - VI. The sight reading score will be included in the overall rating for all participating bands unless the band is performing for comments only. Bands will read one (1) concert selection. One sight reading judge will be used; the judge will make taped comments and use the MENC sight reading form.

*          B. Bands and directors will have time to look at the music. The times are: Grades II, III and IV - five minutes; Grade V - six minutes; Grade VI - seven minutes. During that time they may clap rhythms, sing parts, count out loud and finger instruments, but they may not play their instruments. Each band may play a brief warm-up scale at the conclusion of the preparation period.

*          C. During the actual performance directors may call out rehearsal letters or numbers and verbal cues (e.g. Òmore trumpetsÓ, Òtubas watchÓ) but may not sing parts or rhythms while the band is playing. Only one director may work with the band in the sight reading room. The time limit in the sight reading room will correspond with the given amount for the concert performance.

*          D. The President and President-Elect will contract an active band director (contractor) from another state to order the sight reading to be used in the current yearÕs University Interscholastic League Concert and Sight Reading Festival (from Texas).

*          E. It is the responsibility of the state chairperson to make sure the contractor chosen be provided with the following information: music company to order the right reading music from, instrumentation for folders, festival dates, festival sites, festival district chairpersons, festival site addresses and the number of sets of sight reading folders that need to be compiled. The contractor will provide the folders, seal each set and ship them to the district festival chairs so that they arrive at least one week prior to the festival date. The boxes will be opened only by the sight reading adjudicators. The expense of the music, postage and contractor stipend will be paid from festival receipts. The Board of Directors will determine the stipend given to the contractor.

*          F. The sight reading judge may not be allowed to question the band following the sight reading sample until after his/her adjudication sheet and taped comments have been completed and sent to the festival chairman. The sight reading judge will also not be allowed to conduct the band following the sight reading sample. Any request by the judge may be denied by the director of the ensemble without penalty of any kind.

 

8. HOUSING

           

            A. Each organization is responsible for making its own housing and meal arrangements.

 

9. DISQUALIFICATION

 

            A. Violation of any of the above rules constitutes an automatic disqualification.

 

RATING CHART FOR CONCERT FESTIVALS GRADES II - VI

 

The following chart will be used as a guide in arriving at a final rating when using four judges (Three judges from the concert portion and one judge from the sight reading portion). All possible combinations are included. The Roman numerals at the top refer to the final ratings; the numbers below refer to ratings given by each judge.

 

RATING I            RATING II                 RATING III                RATING IV                 RATING V

1111                 1114                             1145                             1455                             4555

1112                 1115                             1155                             1555                             5555

1113                 1123                             1235                             2355                

1122                 1124                             1244                             2445

                        1125                             1245                             2455

                        1133                             1255                             3345

                        1134                             1334                             3355

                        1135                             1335                             3444

                        1144                             1344                             3445

                        1222                             1345                             3555

                        1223                             1355                             4444

                        1224                             1444                             4445

                        1225                             1445                             4455

                        1233                             2225

                        1234                             2234

                        1333                             2235

                        2222                             2244

                        2223                             2245

                        2224                             2255

                        2233                             2333

                                                            2334

                                                            2335

                                                            2344

                                                            2345

                                                            2444

                                                            3333

                                                            3334

                                                            3335

                                                            3344

 

Rating I: Any combination of 4 ratings that total 4, 5, 6

Rating II: Any combination of 4 ratings that total 7, 8, 9, 10

Rating III: Any combination of 4 ratings that total 11, 12, 13, 14

Rating IV: Any combination of 4 ratings that total 15, 16, 17, 18

Rating V: Any combination of 4 ratings that total 19, 20 

 

Unanimous Stage Rule

If a band receives straight Òthrees - IIIÕsÓ, ÒFours - IVÕsÓ or ÒFives - VÕsÓ on stage then they will receive that score as their overall rating regardless of the sightreading score.

 

The ratings affected are:

 

333-1 would become a 3                    555-1 would become a 5

444-1 would become a 4                    555-2 would become a 5

444-2 would become a 4                    555-3 would become a 5

 

RATE CHART FOR CONCERT FESTIVALS

GRADES I - VI

 

The following chart will be used as a guide in arriving at a final rating when using three judges from the concert portion. All possible combinations are included. The roman numerals at the top refer to the final ratings; the numbers below refer to ratings given by each judge.

 

RATING I            RATING II            RATING III            RATING IV            RATING V

111                   122                   133                   114                   115

112                   123                   234                   345                   255

113                   222                   333                   444                   355

114                   223                   332                   442                   455

115                   224                   334                   443                   555

                        225                   335                   445      

 

Although for purposes of reckoning the I, II, III, IV, V system is a convenience, please be sure that the numbers are not inscribed on the certificates of award or given to the media. According to our rules, the correct designations are given in the right-hand column below:

 

I                                 Superior

II                                 Excellent

III                                 Average

IV                                 Below Average

V                                 Poor