Solo and Ensemble Frequently Asked Questions - From Mr. S

What is Solo and Ensemble Festival and FAQ’s

Solo and Ensemble Festival is an event that is sponsored by Anne Arundel County Music Department and Maryland Music Educators Association.  It is an opportunity for students to play either a solo or an ensemble like a duet, trio, quartet or even larger for an adjudicator to receive feedback and a rating.  Any students who receive a rating of a I or Superior Rating on a grade II or harder piece of music are eligible to perform at the state level festival in May.  All students must perform a selection of music from the MMEA list which is provided below.  Registration for this event is done online by the schools director and closes on February 12^th, 2016.  Morning or Evening times may be requested.

Important Information:

Form Deadline: February 12^th, 2016- please turn in your forms early to me to provide ample time to register

Festival Date: March 12^th 2016

(students will have an opportunity to perform their solo’s at the spaghetti dinner on March 11^th)

Location: Magothy/Severn River Middle School 

Each event is $8 per event, forms submitted after the deadline will have a $40 per form late charge fee.  (This is the website hosts fee, not mine) 

Checks should be made payable to AACPS

Students may participate in up to three events

All entries must play from the State list which can be found at MMEA-maryland.org under the orchestra or band tab on the left side of the website.  Those graded lists can be found at these links;

MODA string solo and ensemble lists- http://mmea-maryland.org/Orchestra.php

Wind and percussion solos- http://mmea-maryland.org/Band.php

Wind and percussion ensembles- http://mmea-maryland.org/documents/MBDA/MBDA-2014ensembleonly.xls

What is a graded list? 

This is a list of thousands of pieces of music have been submitted and graded in terms of difficulty.

Grade I = usually 6^th grade

Grade II= advanced 6^th grade or 7^th grade or 8^th grade

Grade III= advanced 7^th grade or 8^th grade

Grade IV= advance 8^th grade or High School

Grade V and VI High School and College level

What is a Rating?  It is the scores given by the Adjudicator.

I Superior = Eligible for State, II Excellent, III Good, IV Fair, V Poor

Where can music be found?

If a student is interested I do have a small collection of solos and ensemble pieces, I would gladly find a piece of music that would fit your child’s ability level.  Also those who subscribe to smart music has many pieces available.  Music can be found at Music and Arts or ordered online at JW pepper.com

Students should have two copies of original music one for them and one for the adjudicator. Each set of music should have the measures numbered. Photo copies are not allowed unless the music is permanently out of Print and a letter from the publisher is provided.

Students performing solos need an accompanist. If needed, I can play for the first 15 students that ask or can find someone for them.  

All students should also know the scale for the key of the piece and a chromatic scale one octave.

Any student that performs in any event will receive points toward the end of the year award and will receive an extra credit 50 points toward their grade or one free test passing attempt.

 Registration: 

Solo

student Name  ______________________________________

Instrument        _____________________________________

Name of selection ___________________________________

Composer         ______________________________________

Grade Level      if known _______________________________

Time request    morning or afternoon

Accompanist name _________________________________

Accompanist phone number __________________________

Accompanist email    ________________________________

Ensemble

Members name and instrument    _____________________________________

                                          _____________________________________

                                                                              ______________________________________

                                                                            _____________________________________

                                                                            _____________________________________

                                                                           ______________________________________

                                                                            ______________________________________

                                                                           _______________________________________

                                                                           ______________________________________

Name of selection  _________________________________________ 

Name of Composer _______________________________________

Grade level  if know _________________________________________

General Meeting Reminder

Don't forget, we have a general meeting tomorrow, January 11, 2016.  The meeting will be at 7 PM in the MRMS cafeteria.  In addition to our regular business, we will have in depth information about the spring trip.  Hope to see you there!

All County Band

Congratulations to Nicole Nadeau, Jolene Blair, Sean Cooper, William McCracken, Samuel Clark, Jack Capps, Connor Baerwald, and Trystin Martin for being selected to perform with the All County Band.  

The All County Band concert will be Saturday, February 6, at 7 PM at Southern High School. 

All County Band Auditions - Good Luck

Good luck to all of our musicians auditioning for All County Band tomorrow: Sedona Salb, Lucy Nathan, Nicole Nadeau, Carly Bair, Jolene Blair, Camp Wingard, Dale Gallimore, Sean Cooper, Marcus Herman, William McCracken, Kellum Urban, Sam Clark, Jack Capps, Trystin Martin, Connor Beaerwald, and Mikail Selzer!

New Year Reminders

Happy New Year to all of our Instrumental Program Booster Families!  We have lots of exciting things going on in this new year!  Here are just a few things to remember as we start back to school tomorrow:

1.  Regular practice schedules will resume.

2.  All musicians will be bringing home a Joe Corbi sales packet early this week.  We are running this sale in conjunction with the honors choral programs to help students earn money for their spring trip.  If together we are able to sell more than 100 products, each product sold will earn the seller $5 toward the trip.  More information can be found in the sales packer.  ORDERS MUST BE TURNED IN BY JANUARY 15!  

3.  It's movie night time again!  January's movie night is Friday, January 8, 6-8PM.  We will be showing Ice Age.  All tickets include a slice of pizza and water.  Additional snacks will be available for purchase.  We need donations and volunteers to make this event happen.  Please consider helping out, we especially need help selling tickets during lunches.  

4.  The bowling party is scheduled for January 15-16.  All reservations must be turned in by Wednesday, January 6, so we can make final arrangements with the facility.  

5.  We will have a general meeting on Monday, January 11, at 7 PM.  We will be discussing the spring trip at this time. 

6.  Please consider volunteering to help the program out.  In addition to help at movie night, we need help to reconcile pizza orders, a Spaghetti Dinner chair and helpers, and an Air Band Competition Co-chair just to name a few.  If you can help with any of these positions, please contact mrmsipboosters@gmail.com.