General Information
The All-State SATB chorus will consist of 180 singers, the All-State Women’s Chorale will consist of 120 singers, and the All-State Men’s Chorus will consist of 96 singers. Each regional association will bring a percentage of students to each group determined by the ratio of the average number of auditioning schools over the past three years. The top scores in each vocal part should be divided between the SATB chorus and the Men’s/Women’s Choruses. The sizes of the chorus may be temporarily enlarged due to rounding of the percentages.
All students participating in an All-State choral ensemble must have successfully participated in a regional ensemble and have passed a screening audition on the music to be performed at All-State prior to February 1 of the calendar year of the All-State Honor Choir Performance. In case of extenuating circumstances, an association may seek approval from the executive board through contact of the All-State Choral Chair, to extend the February 1 deadline. Each area may select its quota of students in whatever manner they choose.
Female students may not audition as Tenors for any All-State ensemble.
The Screening Audition
The screening audition will be on all the literature to be performed at All-State by all three ensembles. The students are to be prepared to sing all the pieces of the choir to which they are assigned, although they may only be asked to sing an excerpt from the piece during the screening audition. When a piece is in a language other than English or Latin, the students have the option of singing their part on a neutral syllable or solfege for their audition.
The All-State Choral Chair will have a professionally prepared practice CD that contains all the pieces to be performed by each ensemble as well as a diction track for pieces other than those performed in English (that is, one CD with the SATB music, one with the SSA music, and one with the TTBB music). One CD for each student in each choir will be ordered by TMEA and distributed to each regional association. The associations will be billed for their total number of CDs by TMEA or a designate of TMEA. These CDs must be prepared in time to allow the students to use them to learn their All-State music.
The All-State Choral Chair, along with the All-State SATB, Women’s, and Men’s
Chorus Chairs will determine audition sections on each piece of the All-State literature. The audition sections will be kept secret until the actual day of auditions. To ensure this the audition CDS will be professionally prepared and delivered to the All-State Choral Chair. Each region will be required to purchase one CD for each choir. Should a region desire to have multiple copies of an audition CD, they will be billed for the additional expense. The auditions chair will deliver the audition CDs to the auditions chair of each association (or the designated person from each association) in time for the actual auditions.
All students who are participating in the screening audition must arrive at the designated holding room of the designated facility selected by each region’s executive board by a published time. Students must have a pencil in order to mark their music. Pencils will not be provided. Students will then be divided into the three choirs and all will be escorted to the designated audition rooms for each ensemble. Once the students arrive at their designated audition room, attendance will then be taken. Any student not present during the initial recording of attendance will be disqualified from the screening audition. (Please see extenuating circumstances clause) At this time, each ensemble will be given the audition spots for the All-State Screening. Following the announcement of the selections, each choir will in mass sing through the audition once. The students should then be divided into octets and/or quartets in any manner the regional association thinks most appropriate.
The audition materials must not be performed, rehearsed, or sung-through in the holding room. Students may listen to their practice cd’s with personal earphones.
If there are not enough students to have a complete octet and/or quartet, students who have already auditioned may be asked to sing a second time to fill out the octet and/or quartet, but their second audition will not be counted. The process for selecting these students will be decided as follows: the top scoring persons in each section of each choir are to serve as the students who will serve to fill out an octet and/or quartet during the entire audition process. Their prospective directors will be notified prior to screening. Directors are required to notify their prospective region’s Executive Board as to the availability of their student. If a student is not participating, the director of the next highest scoring student during the preliminary audition will be asked to notify their student of this important task. The purpose of these singers is to ensure that ALL students have a fair chance at the audition. The TMEA Board has decided that using the top scoring students as the fillers for an ensemble is a fair process and is not an unreasonable requirement for these singers.
The door monitor will provide students with a nametag with a number from 1 to 8. In the mixed chorus, the numbers are assigned from First Soprano (1) to Second Bass (8). In the Men’s and Women’s chorus room, the numbers are assigned from First Tenor or Soprano (1) to Second Bass or Alto (4). The students will stand in the following order for their respective choirs: S1, A1, T1, B1, S2, A2, T2, B2; S1, A1, S2, A2; and T1, B1, T2, B2. The door monitor will provide the room monitor the name of the students and their respective number. The actual judges will not know the name of the student.
Each region will appoint a teacher to serve as the room monitor for each screening room. Enough judges must be used so that no one judge is listening to more than two students in an octet and/or quartet simultaneously. If possible, there should be at least one judge for each voice part as well as an extra judge for each room. Judges will rotate with no judge hearing more than two students in the same voice part in succession. If a judge requires a break or if the room monitor deems the judge is not following the standards mandated in this document, the extra judge may be used to replace the judge in need of a break or in question. Judging responsibilities should be divided so that no one judges his/her own students. The individual judges should stand directly in front of the student they are screening in order to determine if the student is passing the screening. The room monitor is responsible for confirming with each judge and marking which students have passed and which students have failed.
Grading on the audition will be pass/fail. Following the audition, the octet/quartet will be asked to wait outside of the audition room. Judges will confer on their decisions. If the judges want to hear a particular student a second time, they will sing in the previously mentioned top scoring students octet and/or quartet. All members of that previously auditioned octet/quartet will be notified if they passed the audition or will require a second audition. Students receiving a second audition due to failure of the first audition will be heard by a panel of Executive Board members. If during the audition the judges decide there are extenuating circumstances, they may recall the entire octet and/or quartet.
The following rubric will be used as a guide by the vocal regions to identify the scoring parameters of the All-State screening. All students must have a passing grade in each category of the excerpt to fulfill the screening requirement.
| CATEGORY |
Superior
(Passing) |
Excellent
(Passing) |
Failure
|
| Pitch |
Virtually no errors. Pitch is very accurate. |
An occasional isolated error, but most of the time pitch is accurate and secure. |
Some accurate pitches, but there are frequent and/or repeated errors. |
| Rhythm |
The beat is secure and the rhythms are accurate for the music being sung. |
The beat is secure and the rhythms are mostly accurate. There are a few duration errors, but these do not detract from the overall performance. |
The beat is somewhat erratic. Some rhythms are accurate. Frequent or repeated duration errors. Rhythm problems occasionally detract from the overall performance. |
| Entrances |
Secure Entrances. |
Entrances are usually secure, though there might be an isolated error. |
Entrances are rarely secure. |
A student who fails both screenings is ineligible for All-State. A student who passes the screening is now an official member of the Tennessee All State Choirs.
Each region may decide how to make their respective screenings run as smoothly as possible with the previously mentioned stipulations.
Students who are unable to attend the audition due to illness may participate in a makeup audition once a doctor’s note is provided documenting the illness. Students who are unable to attend the audition due to a death in the family may participate in a makeup audition. Each region’s executive board may decide what other type of excusable extenuating circumstances (car accident, etc.) would cause a student to be unable to attend the audition. The makeup audition will be the following: The student will sing the entire All-State Literature with the aid of the accompaniment only version of the practice CD. The student must sing in the presence of at least two teachers with one of those being a member of the region’s Executive Board. If the student is capable of singing ALL of the literature, he or she will be deemed as successfully passing the audition. This screening must take place by February 14 of the calendar year of the All-State Honor Choir.
In the event that the regional screening must be cancelled due to inclement weather, it will NOT be necessary to hold a make-up screening.
Alternates
Alternates for All-State should be the next ten top scores after each section has been filled. Five alternates from each section should be assigned to prepare the mixed chorus music and would only be eligible to replace a mixed chorus singer. The remaining five alternates would prepare the Women’s or Men’s Chorus music and would only be eligible to replace a Women’s or Men’s chorus singer.
All-State alternates should go through the octet and/or quartet audition process. An alternate who has passed the octet and/or quartet audition may replace a student who fails the audition or who has to drop out of All-State. It shall be the area association’s responsibility to determine eligibility of alternates, to notify them, and to assure that they receive the proper information. It shall be the area All-State chairperson’s responsibility to notify the state All-State Choral Chair of alternate replacements.
Alternates may be substituted up to 48 hours before the first rehearsal. No alternates will be substituted after that point. Directors should NOT bring students to the TMEA Conference or TMEA All-State who are not officially a member of the TN All-State Honor Choir.
Drop Procedures
If a student chooses to not participate in the All-State Screening, the students’ director should contact the regional chair via EMAIL as to this decision. Any email from the director stating this action will disqualify the student from the All-State Screening Audition.
Alternate Replacement if an Alternate Is Not Available on a Certain Part
Assume that XYZ region has run out of T1 alternates for SATB chorus and still needs to fill a spot. The first option is to move up a T2 alternate for SATB chorus into a T1 slot. If that can't happen, XYZ moves up a T1 alternate from Men1s Chorus. If that won't work, XYZ can move up a T2 alternate from Men's Chorus. If that won't work, the region has to forfeit the spot and contact the All State Chairman who will then ask another region if they can fill the required spot with an alternate designated for that part (in other words, a T1 alternate for SATB from the ABC area or DEF area). A baritone cannot be moved into a T2 spot or some other similar move. Moves must be within the designated voice part.
The alternate moving will be given a couple of weeks to prepare the music for the new part. The student must sing in the presence of at least two teachers with one of those being a member of the region’s Executive Board.
To do the re-screening, the student may sing with a part CD for the part he is auditioning for (our T2 example would sing with a T1 part CD) and must sing the entire piece (except in the event of extremely repetitious pieces) with the same standards of the All-State Audition Process. The two directors who hear the audition send a confirmation message to the regional All State chair confirming that the student was screened and demonstrated sufficient preparation on the music.
Jazz Band will be recorded during the regional Jazz Band clinics. The regional affiliated organization’s President, Jazz Band chairperson, and one other person to be selected by the President shall supervise the area auditions. The All-State Jazz Band chairperson will furnish details for the recording/taping procedures, to insure uniformity in three regions.
Only those students who are members of the regional clinic jazz ensembles are eligible to audition.
The All-State Jazz Band selection committee will consist of each area Jazz Band chairperson. It will make the final decisions to complete the following instrumentation.