Solo/Ensemble Festival – Benson

Saturday, April 1, 2017

BUS TIMES:

6:45 AM - Load buses and trailer

7:00 AM - All band and choir students leave for Benson

1:40 PM (approx) - Bus leaves for Monte

2:20 PM (approx) - Return to Montevideo High School

ATTIRE: Dress nicely for your performances – no blue jeans, please! Ensembles may choose to dress the same – this looks really sharp, but is not mandatory. You may bring other clothes to change into after your performance. Jazz bands will wear black pants, black socks and shoes, and black jazz polos for the performance. Jazz Choir wears jazz choir outfits; Chamber Choirand Fantasia should just dress nicely.

JUDGE’S SHEETS/ORIGINALS:

You are responsible for bringing your judge’s sheet with you to the performance, as well as originals for you, your judge, and your accompanist. These are all located in the designated boxes in the gym (homeroom) area.

Make sure you have your judge’s sheet filled out and all measures numbered on both your music and the judge’s copy. Even if your accompanist is using photocopies, the original must be there on the piano or you will be disqualified.

When you finish, it is your responsibility to pick up any judge’s copies of the music and return them to the file box that it came from (Band box or Choir box). Other groups may be using the same books as you, so you need to return it as soon as you are finished in case they need them right away. Get the copies just before your performance and then return them as soon as you are done performing since others will be using your books as well.

WARMING UP: You are on your own to warm up in the gym. Please be sure to get a tuner from the band box and after you have spent some time playing, tune your instrument. You will also need to tune with the piano and your accompanist will help you with this once you get to your site.

JAZZ 1 – will warm up in the gym behind the Gym (homeroom) at 10:10. Jazz choir members should get changed and report to the gym as soon as possible so we can be tuned and ready to go at 10:20 to our site.

JAZZ 2 – will warm up in the gym behind the Gym (homeroom) at 8:40. Jazz choir members should get changed and report to the gym as soon as possible so we can be tuned and ready to go at 8:50 to our site.

JAZZ CHOIR – will set up immediately when we arrive and then practice before the judge gets there.

CHAMBER CHOIR – will warm up in the small gym behind the gym at 11:10 for anyone that can make it.

INTRODUCTIONS: Please introduce yourself to your judge and audience before you begin. Wait until the judge has finished writing comments from the performance before you. When he/she is ready, introduce yourself by stating your name, piece you are playing, and composer’s last name. For example: “Good morning, my name is John Doe. Today I will be playing/singing Adagio by Mozart.” When you are finished, be sure to thank the judge for his/her time.

MONEY: Bring money for snacks/lunch during the day. There will be concessions available from 8:00-1:45 on Saturday.

EQUIPMENT:

Jazz band will unload equipment to the auditorium upon arrival at the school

ALL jazz band students are required to help load/unload jazz band equipment. This should not be left up to only a few people.

Keep all instruments and cases in the homeroom area in the gym. Be respectful of other school’s equipment.

PARENTS:

Your parents are welcome to come and listen to your performance(s) if they wish to do so. Please let them know your times or have them check online to see your groups. Make sure you let them know to be EARLY in case your site is running ahead of schedule, especially at the end of the day!

Everyone is required to ride to the festival on the bus or with a parent if a note is received in advance. If you wish to ride home with your parents, you must bring a note to Mr. Baueror Mr. Hampton before Saturday or have them check in with them before you leave so that we know we aren’t leaving someone behind.

OTHER:

Please respect the host school. Take care of their building just as though it were ours. Clean up after yourself and do not leave garbage behind! The bus will NOT leave Benson until the Monte area is cleaned up in the GYM.

Judge’s comments and rating sheets will be collected before we leave at the end of the day.

You should listen to other groups from both Monte and other schools as you have time during the day. It is a great way to grow as a musician and you may get ideas for next year.

Do whatever the judges ask of you. They are there to help you grow as a musician. Be open to their suggestions even if they are something different than we have talked about!

We are going to be very hard to find during the day because we are taken a lot of different places, so please ask any questions you might have BEFORE Saturday morning!

DO YOUR BEST! YOU HAVE WORKED HARD TO GET TO THIS POINT AND SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOUR PERFORMANCE!