The KMEA All-State ensembles will be an important part of the virtual In-Service Workshop. The ensembles will meet and rehearse virtually. Information for All-States will be added to the KMEA website when appropriate.

Auditions for the high school All-State Bands, Orchestra, and Jazz Band will also be virtual. Students eligible to audition will submit a recorded audition, which will be adjudicated (as is done during Live Auditions) by panels of judges. The All-State ensemble membership will be announced, as usual, on the KMEA website. This process will begin in early January.

Rehearsals for the All-State ensembles will be virtual and will be held on multiple days in late January and early February. Students accepted into the All-State ensembles will receive information about these rehearsals. Rehearsals will be hosted by the KMEA All-State Chairs. The conductors will participate in the rehearsals, and student musicians can expect activities such as sectionals, appearances by special guests (composers, etc.), social opportunities, and rehearsals led by the All-State conductor.

After rehearsals, students will upload a recording of the All-State music following specific instructions provided during the rehearsals. These recordings will be combined by an audio engineer. Each ensemble will have 6-10 minutes of music to prepare.

Each ensemble will have a 30-minute video that will include the performance and other important information and features. These videos will be aired on Saturday afternoon, February 27. The performances will be available for viewing by the student musicians, their family members, and their teachers. Up to 3000 people will be able to virtually attend each concert.

The KMEA Live Auditions (auditions for high school All-State Bands, Orchestra, and Jazz Band) are normally held each year in Salina. This year, the auditions will be virtual using a program called Festival Scores. Directors will upload their students' auditions. There is a fee for using Festival Scores, which replaces the usual Live Audition fee. Information about these auditions will be posted on the KMEA website as it is available.

The repertoire for these auditions is currently available on the KMEA website. Cuts to the audition repertoire and required scales will be posted on the KMEA website a few days before the upload of auditions. There will be no sight-reading required this year.

The dates when uploads will be accepted will appear on the KMEA website. This information will be available after the first Saturday in December.

Audition results will be posted on the KMEA website following the judging.

Notice that the rehearsals for all All-State ensembles will be virtual. Follow this information as it becomes available on the KMEA website.

The KMEA Awards Ceremony will be virtual at 10:00-11:30 AM on Saturday, February 27—the usual time. It will be available to anyone who is registered for the convention. Awards to be presented include:

• KMEA Hall of Fame
• KMEA Teacher of the Year
• KMEA Administrator of the Year
• KSHSAA Music Educator
• Outgoing District Presidents

The usual drawing for door prizes has been moved to the Open Exhibits Times on Thursday and Friday of the ISW.

At an in-person ISW, members are accustomed to attending various meetings and banquets hosted by KMEA as well as other organizations. Discussion are on-going about which virtual banquets and meetings will be held at the 2021 virtual ISW. Please check the program for the virtual ISW when it is released in February to see what virtual meeting and banquets will be held.

The February KMEA Board meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:00-9:30 PM. Please mark your calendar now for this meeting. The meeting is normally on Thursday morning of the ISW, but the virtual convention will start at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning.

The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom—a different platform than will be used for the clinic sessions. Board reports will be collected, as usual, in early February and an e-copy of the Board Book will be distributed before the meeting. Invitations with a Zoom link to the meeting will be distributed in February.

Clinics will be 60 minutes (with some being longer). There will be an e-schedule of the convention, similar to the printed version used at the ISW. This Schedule will be available online. When members register for the convention, they will have access to an e-copy of the schedule that includes clickable links to attend clinics and other events virtually.

The clinician will be able to share a PowerPoint presentation and to play audio and video within the clinic. Each clinic will have a host—a person who will handle the technology for the session, introduce the clinician, and monitor comments and questions from the attendees. Many clinics will be sponsored by exhibitors and will include a brief presentation from the exhibitor at the opening of the clinic.

The ISW will begin on Thursday morning, February 25 at 8:00 AM and end at 11:30 AM on Saturday, February 27. The All-State Concerts will begin at 12:00 noon on Saturday. All clinics will be recorded and available after the ISW to those who are registered for the ISW.

Members will not be charged a separate fee for accessing the meeting software beyond the original workshop registration fee.

Collegiate members will have access to the entire virtual ISW when they register—as usual. In place of the Collegiate Banquet, Drew Villaca, the KMEA Collegiate President, will offer a virtual session for speakers and scholarship presentations. This will be on Friday, Sept. 26. The Collegiate Meeting will be on Saturday, February 27 at 10:00-11:00 AM. Collegiate members may attend all clinic sessions. There will be several clinics sponsored specifically for Collegiate students. Collegiate members will receive information about these sessions.

Ensembles submitted recordings in May to be considered for performance at the 2021 ISW. These recordings were adjudicated and ensembles were selected for performance.

Directors of selected ensembles have been given some options to deal with specific rehearsal situations at their local schools related to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Selected ensembles will submit a recording of a performance and these will be played virtually during the ISW. Attendees will have a concert schedule and will be able to attend these virtual concerts.

The All-State ensembles will have virtual rehearsals, and individual student musicians will submit a recording of the ensemble music. These will be put together by an audio engineer, and each ensemble will have a 30 minute video that will include about 6-10 minutes of music. These will be aired on Saturday afternoon, February 27. They will be available to attendees and those associated with the student musicians. Up to 3000 people will be able to login and attend each concert.

Clinics will be offered for Elementary Classroom Music professional development in the same manner as we do at a face-to-face convention. Clinicians have been selected—to be announced soon—to present clinics. These will run throughout the convention. Clinicians this year will be a combination of nationally known clinicians as well some of our great music educators here in Kansas. Elementary music ensembles that have been selected to perform at the convention will also have the option to submit a recording to be aired as part of the convention.

The Exhibitors attending the ISW will have advertisements in the virtual ISW Schedule that may include links to the Exhibitors' websites and videos prepared by the Exhibitors.

Open Exhibits times will be on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 4:00-5:00 PM and Friday, February 26 at 1:00-2:00 PM. During these hours, many Exhibitors will have virtual chat rooms that attendees may visit in a come-and-go fashion—as if the attendee was walking through the face-to-face Exhibits Hall. Those who attend the virtual Exhibits rooms will be included in a drawing for door-prizes.

Exhibitors provide important financial support for the KMEA convention. It is important that attendees attend the Open Exhibit hours and support our Exhibitors.

Due to the problems with holding live rehearsals and concerts during the pandemic, there will be no Late Night Jazz concert this year. This favorite event will return at the 2022 ISW.

There will NOT be a virtual Past Presidents Banquet at the 2021 ISW. KMEA may consider having this Banquet at both the 2022 and 2023 ISWs. Watch programs in future years for this announcement.

Project Trio is our featured group at the Presidents Concert. They will be performing from a live location in New York City. The concert is on Thursday evening—check the schedule for the time and the link to attend the concert. Project Trio will also present a clinic session on Friday morning for the Tri-M Students—everyone is welcome to attend.

Registration for the ISW will open on the KMEA website on November 1, 2020.

The prices for registration will be the same as for the 2020 ISW. For regular KMEA members, the usual deadlines and pricing are in place ($80 from Nov. 1-Dec. 31, $105 from Jan. 1-Jan. 31, $130 from Feb. 1 through the end of the convention). Although the ISW is virtual, the usual amount of professional development will be offered—and the sessions will be recorded and available, so attendees will be able to view sessions after they occur. Members will save money on travel, accommodations, and food.

Remember that you must have KMEA/NAfME membership that is valid through March 1, 2021 before you can register for the ISW.

We have a unique opportunity this year to share our work virtually during our In-Service Workshop. Research remains an integral part of our profession and one of the piers upon which our successes in the classroom rests. This year, we offer several opportunities to share and interact with our vibrant researchers throughout the state including a live session sharing the current practices of researchers across the state and short clips sharing the wide variety of studies in which our colleagues are engaged across Kansas. The latter is analogous to our poster session and is intended to provide a quick glimpse into current work and pique your interest for additional information, if so called. Finally, in an effort to build stronger relationships across the state and address issues here in Kansas, we will host a Research work session. We invite anyone who is interested in forming research groups, share possible research ideas, or is interested in the process to attend this session at KMEA. Collaboration remains a key component of success within the classroom and research in disseminating critical information across the profession. We look forward to seeing you virtually at the ISW!

Members will be able to register for the virtual ISW beginning November 1, 2020. (Be sure to check the information under the REGISTRATION tab to find the Registration schedule and pricing.) Those registered for the ISW will have access to an e-copy of the ISW schedule in February. The titles of events (clinics, concerts, etc.) will be links that can be used to attend the events. Other information about the virtual ISW will be in this e-program, and ads with links from our Exhibitors will be included.

Tri-M will hold virtual sessions for Tri-M students on Friday morning, Feb. 26, during the virtual ISW. This is the time that these sessions world normally occur during the ISW. KMEA leaders are still in the planning stages of these meetings, including the clinician(s). We have a very exciting tentative plan in the works, so watch for more information from Shelly Cole, the KMEA Tri-M Board Member.

Colleges and universities will have the option to plan their own virtual receptions. Some may choose to have a virtual event, and some will choose to not host an event. These virtual receptions will not be hosted on the ISW convention platform but will be hosted on a platform provided by the university. Watch for information from your college or university about how to attend their virtual reception.