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Region 26 Band Auditions | Saturday, December 5, 2009 | Elgin HS
The Texas Music Educators Association sponsors individual competitions every fall that culminate in the selection of the All-State Bands, Choirs, and Orchestras that perform at the annual convention in February.
All Texas regions hold the first level of competition and the top students advance to the Area level held in January. In each of the seven Areas, a designated number of the top students are selected to All-State. At each level of competition, students perform for a panel of 5 judges in a blind audition where judges are screened from sight and do not know which students are performing. Just as in other head-to-head competitions in Texas, each judge ranks each student in comparison with each other and the lowest total of rank points is first chair. The All-Region Bands perform in a concert in the middle of January each year, but the Area Band is for qualification purposes only. The All-State groups rehearse for 3 days in February prior to their performances with internationally acclaimed conductors and educators. Holiday Concert | Thursday, December 17, 2009, 7:00 p.m. | LT PAC
Region 26 Band Concert | Saturday, January 16, 2010 | LT PAC
UIL Solo & Ensemble Competition | Saturday, February 27, 2010
The only "individual" competition that the UIL sponsors for instrumentalists is held in the winter, usually at the end of February each year. Students choose a solo and/or an ensemble from the Prescribed Music List for their instrument and begin work in November/December. Solos must be memorized so that students can earn advancement to the State level by making a First Division at the region level. Non-memorized solos cannot advance. Once again, judges are rating each performance compared to a statewide scale of excellence, not as a comparison of one student to another. Students earn medals for First Divisions as well as qualification to State.
The Texas State Solo-Ensemble Contest is held in Austin each year during the last weekend in May. Students who compete perform for judges with national and international experience, often major symphony performers and college educators. Students who earn a First Division receive a state gold medal and a few students are selected to be "Outstanding Performers" and receive State Champion medals for their work. Nearly 20,000 students participate in this two-day event.
Solo & Ensemble Participant Recital | Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 6:30 p.m. | LT Black Box Theatre
Late Winter Concert | Thursday, March 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m. | LT PAC Pre-UIL Concert | TBA Concert and Symphonic Bands will perform their UIL selections. UIL Concert/Sight-Reading Contest | TBA
This is the staple competition for UIL, occurring every year in the spring in all regions of the state. Bands prepare a concert program of three pieces chosen from the Prescribed Music List and perform for a panel of three judges who rate the bands with one of five ratings, just as in regional marching competition. Again, the comparison is only with a standard of excellence, not with other bands in the contest. Theoretically, every band could earn a First Division or a Fifth Division. Immediately following the concert, bands move to another room to sight-read a piece of music chosen to be read by all the bands within a class statewide. The music for sight-reading is composed specifically for the contest and addresses certain fundamentals that are aligned with the curriculum for each classification. This is the musical equivalent of a statewide achievement test for Band.
Bands who receive a First Division for Marching, Concert Performance, and Sight-Reading are awarded the prestigious Sweepstakes Award.
Jazz Ensemble Concert | TBA
Spring Concert | TBA |
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