Rules

Directors are responsible for being familiar with the All-State Rules & Responsibilities.

Participation Eligibility Requirements

There are four requirements for a student to be eligible to audition for the KMEA Instrumental All-State Groups.

  1. The student must first be a performing member of their District’s KMEA Band, Jazz Ensemble, or Orchestra.
  2. The student’s director must submit an audition entry and payment for each audition.
  3. The student must be deemed an eligible freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior in good standing in their high school.
  4. The student must meet the KSHSAA eligibility requirements.

Participation

Any grade 9-12 wind, percussion, or string student who was selected for and participated at the KMEA District level may audition for the KMEA All-State Groups.

Local directors will send in the Audition Invoice and appropriate fees for each student by the deadline in order to enter students in the State audition.

Students who audition on more than one instrument (i.e., piccolo/flute, alto sax/Jazz alto sax) must be registered for each audition and each audition must be appropriately paid for. The student must be registered and supervised by a staff member from their music department while at the audition site.

Administration of Auditions: Depending on the number of students auditioning for each section, the Chairperson will determine if one or two audition rooms are needed for each instrument group. The state Chairperson has the responsibility and the right to make revisions in the audition rooms as needed.

Instruments using two rooms for auditions will divide the audition. The student will perform part of the audition in the first room for a panel of three judges and move to a second room and perform the remaining audition material for a second panel of three judges. The six scores will be totaled, then ranked for determining All-State Group participants.

An annual rotating system of judges representing all seven districts will be used. A district may abdicate its right to representation on a judging panel if no qualified judge for that instrument exists in the district. The District President will inform the state Chair no later than one month prior to the auditions that the vacancy exists. The state Chair may then appoint a suitable judge to represent the district.

At least one adult monitor will work at each audition room to serve as judges’ aide, liaison with students, and door monitor.

Students will be assigned an audition time(s) upon arrival, but no earlier than one hour before auditions begin.

Chairpersons will develop judge and door monitor guidelines. They will also develop judging score sheets for a consistent scoring system.

Judges will be screened from the auditioning students, and will not have access to student names or schools.

The tie-breaking criteria will be: 1) Sight-reading score 2) Etude score 3) Scale score

Audition excerpts will be edited to fit into a five-minute or less audition time. These edits will be posted in the warm-up area approximately one hour before auditions begin.

***Exemption: Students Involved in NAfME/KSHSAA Events

Instrumentalists participating in a NAfME or KSHSAA Qualifying or State event that occurs on the same day as the KMEA Instrumental Live Auditions will receive a special exemption from attendance at the KMEA All-State Ensemble Instrumental Live Auditions. The instrumentalist will be allowed to make a single recording of the required audition materials with the All-State Ensemble Manager. This exemption does not include KSHSAA “Approved” events.

Requirements:

  • The instrumentalist must have fulfilled all District requirements for eligibility regarding membership in an All-State Ensemble
  • The instrumentalist’s director must have submitted an audition form
  • The instrumentalist’s director will contact the All-State Ensemble Manager by December 10th in order to establish a date and time for the recording session
  • The recording must be completed prior to the instrumentalist’s departure for participation in the NAfME/KSHSAA Qualifying or State event
  • The audition materials will include:
    • The required scale(s)
    • Sight-reading
    • The entire etudes, solo, or studies as listed on the KMEA website
  • The instrumentalist will be given adequate warm-up time and will indicate when he/she is ready to record.
  • The instrumentalist will make a single recording of the required audition materials.
  • Once the recording session begins, the All-State Ensemble Manager will pause the recording between the scale, sight-reading, and each major section of the solo/etude passages (since they are having to record the full audition materials)
  • When the recording is played for the judges at the live auditions, the judges will hear only the scale(s), sight-reading, and the same sections of the solo/etudes performed by students auditioning at the live-audition session
  • The recording session will be held at a location designated by the All-State Ensemble Manager