WCMMEA All-District Choir audition info 2021DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 1st, 2021 at 11:59 pm NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS!
Questions regarding the Junior & Senior All-District Choir or Women’s Honor Choir should be directed to Harry Hamblin at hhamblin@odessar7.net
Please send audition fee payments ($10/student, check made out to WCMMEA) to:Harry HamblinOdessa High School713 S 3rd StOdessa, MO 64076
*Questions regarding the 9th & 10th Grade Honor Choir should be directed to Heather Martin at Lone Jack High School at hmartin@lonejackc6.net. GENERAL INFOPlease read all information CAREFULLY!Auditions will be held Saturday, September 11th, 2021 at Odessa High School. Please do not make special requests for times if not absolutely necessary, as too many requests make the day extremely difficult to schedule. Students MUST audition at their assigned times or they will disqualify themselves from the audition! We will NOT be able to allow students to be “worked in” as may have been done in the past. I apologize now to you and your students for any inconvenience this may cause. REGISTRATION & PAYMENTWe will be registering online for the All-District Choir auditions through this Google Form: https://forms.gle/7mUN7PDTu8S3vViW7 (this can also be found on www.wcmmea.com, and click “District Choir/Women’s Choir” on the left side). Remember that you can enter up to 16 total entries between the Soprano & Alto voices, and up to 16 total entries between the Tenor & Bass voices. So you can enter 8 Sopranos & 8 Altos, or 10 Sopranos & 6 Altos, etc.
You can scan & email a copy of your PO to Harry Hamblin, or mail your check before the audition date. You could also bring your check to the auditions to give to me. I MUST HAVE A COPY OF YOUR PO (not the requisition) OR HAVE RECEIVED PAYMENT BEFORE YOUR STUDENTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO AUDITION. Checks should be made payable to WCMMEA, and mailed to me. Also, please do NOT combine this payment with any others for other events, such as the 9th & 10th Grade Honor Choir or All-State Choir auditions. Incorrect payment may result in your school not receiving proper credit for payment. The fee is $10 per entry, which must be paid, even if the entry cancels before the audition. If you need an invoice in order for your school to process payment, I will include a blank invoice for you to fill out. AUDITIONSStudents need to be ready to perform 2 minutes of a contest-type solo piece. Please tell your students that they may be cut off as early as 1 ½ minutes, and will be allowed to sing no longer than 2 minutes. There will be no penalty for being cut off and it will have no bearing on their audition score. They may use music if they wish, however, remember that copied music is STRICTLY PROHIBITED, and and the use of any copied music will result in disqualification, unless proper documentation giving permission to copy music has been provided to the audition coordinator. Students are encouraged to perform the best 2 minutes of their song (not necessarily starting at the beginning, and keeping piano interludes to a minimum). You will not need to supply music for the judges, as this is a blind audition. Judges will not be able to see or speak to the student; they will only be able to hear them. You must provide your own accompaniment. If you need help finding an accompanist, let me know BEFORE the audition date. CD/tape accompaniments are allowed (although not recommended), and you must provide your own CD or tape player. Remember that a live accompanist can be much more helpful if a student gets nervous and jumps an entrance, misses their entrance, skips a verse, etc. Please remember that the student and the accompanist are the only people allowed in the solo audition room. Directors and/or private teachers WILL NOT be allowed in the performance room! After singing the prepared solo (or before if they prefer, as long as they are on time for their solo audition), students will then proceed to the sight-singing room and complete the key signature identification, melodic and part-specific sight-singing audition. There are many examples from previous years, along with audio, on the MCDA website (www.moacda.org, click on “Honor Choirs” at the top, then “All-District Choirs”, then “All-District Choir Sightreading Examples”). These are EXCELLENT practice for the students. Because of the other activities being held at OHS on the audition day, I cannot provide warm up rooms (I’m sorry!). Feel free to bring a CD player or a keyboard and warm up in the Commons area, if you need to. The audition schedule will be emailed to you by the evening of Sunday, September 5 (hopefully earlier) and posted on the WCMMEA website. Rosters will be emailed & posted by the evening of Sunday, September 12 (hopefully earlier- I just want to give myself a little time to figure things out if there are any scoring issues). PERFORMANCE/CLINICThe performance date will be Saturday, October 9th, 2021, at Oak Grove High School. In order to keep EVERYONE safe during rehearsals and performance, I am asking everyone to please wear a mask at all times (Masks are mandatory at Oak Grove High School). We cannot keep 6 feet of social distance between everyone, we cannot ask vaccination status, and we have a lot of students coming from different schools. I am more than happy to provide masks for any and all students. Your help with making sure your students follow this recommendation is MUCH appreciated. Registration will begin at 7:45 am, rehearsals will begin at 8:15 am, and the concert will begin at 5:30 pm in the Performing Arts Center. All-State Auditions will take place during the afternoon rehearsals. Kip Mathew from Harrisonville High School is our All-State Coordinator and is in charge of this process. Any student who makes the All-District Choir is eligible to audition for the All-State Choir. Members of the Women’s Honor Choir are not eligible to audition for the All-State Choir. Students and a teacher or certified school representative must be present during the entire All-District rehearsal and performance for the student to be eligible for All-State Auditions and placement. This is a MSHSAA rule and is not negotiable. All-District Choir Repertoire Clinician- Mr. Jackson Thomas from UCM O Sing Joyfully”- Batten (available on moacda.org by clicking on “Honor Choirs”, then “MO All-State Choir”) Muusika”- Uusberg $2.70 https://www.jwpepper.com/Muusika/10593348.item#.YSUXUY7YqM8 “A Hoopla”- Larsen $2.80 https://www.jwpepper.com/A-Hoopla/11197396.item#.YSUXj47YqM- “Come By Here”- arr. Pederson $2.50 https://www.jwpepper.com/Come-By-Here/11199621.item#.YSUZeo7YqM9 Stayed on Jesus”- arr. Youngblood $2.25 https://www.jwpepper.com/Stayed-on-Jesus/1656859.item#.YSUZyo7YqM9
COVID PROTOCOLS- Auditions For All-District Choir auditions, participating schools must abide by the COVID protocols of the host school. Currently (8-23-21), Odessa’s protocols are: Regardless of vaccination status, Odessa R-VII Board of Education strongly recommends all persons inside district buildings wear a mask/face covering if unable to maintain 6 feet of social distancing. In non-classroom areas (hallways, Commons, bathrooms) of Odessa R-VII buildings, masks/face coverings will be required to be worn by all persons unless 6 feet of social distance can be maintained. When an Odessa R-VII building reaches 5% or more of students and staff absences for any reason, said building will institute mandatory mask/face covering wearing for all staff, students and visitors inside the building until the number of absences of staff and students drops to less than 3% in said building for 2 consecutive weeks. Absences will be reviewed on a daily basis by school administration; if thresholds are exceeded, the mask/face covering mandate will be instituted immediately. Due to federal mandates, masks must be worn on school buses at all times. Specific details on this requirement can be found here on the U.S. Department of Transportation website.
COVID PROTOCOLS- District Event/State Auditions Oak Grove High School requires masks AT ALL TIMES while indoors. This is regardless of social distancing or vaccination status.
The MCDA & MMEA organizers would very much like all students to audition UNMASKED if they feel comfortable doing so. All of the audition rooms will have outside windows open in order to accommodate increased fresh air. Students will be at least 6 feet away from the judges (who won’t be able to see them). I will email updates if/when Odessa changes their protocols so that you all have the most up-to-date information BEFORE auditions begin on September 11th. But I would prepare your students that they may have to sing with their masks on, just in case. If students must audition with masks on, the judges will be made aware and it will not count against the students. If you have any questions about this, or any part of the audition process, please email me at hhamblin@odessar7.net. *If a student is quarantined before their audition, and are unable to attend in person, they are NOT able to audition virtually. If the entire school is quarantined, that is a different situation, and appropriate adjustments will be made to allow them to audition. Sight-reading will still have to be done virtually, if this is the case. There are plans in place for virtual auditions, if multiple schools are closed due to quarantine. I will share those plans when/if they become necessary.
Select Event:
All-District Band
All-District Jazz Band
All-State Band
All-State Jazz Band X All-District Choir
All-State Choir Audition
All-State Choir Participation Please fill in the table below with your school name, number of singers, and the total amount due.SCHOOL:_____________High School Fee:$10.00 Total Number of singers: TOTAL due (x $10.00)$ Please remit payment to:Organization:WCMMEA c/o:Harry Hamblin
Odessa High School Address:713 S. 3rd St. City:Odessa State:MO Zip:64076
