Guidelines for submission (all divisions/education levels):
- Audition recordings must be submitted as mp3s, representing live performance from single or multiple performance event(s). The quality of the recording, including its playability in any device, is the responsibility of the director making the submission.
- Care should be taken that no announcement of the group performing the audition is present in the recording submitted. CONTAINERS/CD cases should be clearly marked with the name of the ensemble, school/city, and director.
- Time limits for audition materials: Choral: 8-15 minutes of music Band/Orchestra: 12-20 minutes of music Chamber/Jazz ensembles: 6-15 minutes of music
- Auditions should display a variety of styles, with each composition played in its entirety. Single movements may be submitted from multi-movement works, but the movement must be played in its entirety.
- Audition materials will not be returned after they have been considered by the listening committee(s).
The deadline for submissions to be received by the KMEA office to be 4:30 p.m. on a day early in June each year (see application). The KMEA office should contact division chairs the following Monday to advise as to the number of submissions in each area within the division to facilitate the work of the respective committees.
2021 Performing Group Application
2021 Performing Group Printable Guidelines–UPDATED
Orff Ensemble scoring rubric, courtesy of the Kentucky Chapter of KOSA
Committee make-up:
Each Division chair is responsible for obtaining the members of the Performing Group Selection Committee for their respective divisions by May 15. The Band, Choir, & Orchestra Chairs shall provide the Executive Director with a list of KMEA members from which committees shall be selected to audition the recordings. The Division Chair shall not serve on the committee.
Division chairs are encouraged to call upon directors who have had groups perform at the Conference in previous years, and those who have demonstrated consistent performance excellence with groups in their education level. Committees should have a good mix of new and experienced committee members each year.
Committee members should not submit an audition for consideration in the year they serve on the Selection Committee. The Executive Director should inquire about this possibility when soliciting potential committee members.
Each Selection Committee should be populated with a minimum of six members representing the best “ears” available at each education level under consideration (middle school, high school, university). Every effort should be made to obtain committee members from across the state, but geography should be secondary to finding the very best people for the task. One of the members of the committee is to be designated as the committee chair; this member will be responsible for keeping the committee on task, and for compiling a report listing all auditioning groups:
1) in rank order within their classification/grade level
2) committee consensus and ranking of those recommended/not recommended for performance consideration
Review of audition materials:
All Selection Committee members shall review all submissions in consideration from their Division in one meeting.
In the case of a large number of submissions from a Division, the appointed committee chair (not the Division chair) may, at his/her discretion, divide the task of reviewing submissions among smaller groups of at least three within the committee, or schedule a separate meeting to consider different education levels on another day. This decision should be made prior to the committee convening, as the number of submissions in each Division will have been communicated to the Division chair after the submission deadline date. In such situations, the entire committee must still reach consensus on all recommendations from each education level represented by their Division’s submissions.
Each Selection Committee member will complete an evaluation document on each ensemble. These documents will be submitted along with the report of groups recommended/not recommended for conference performance to the KMEA office at the conclusion of the evaluation. While overall rankings/recommendations will not be available to those submitting auditions, the evaluation documents for their individual group will be provided to the director of the ensemble upon request. After completion of the evaluation, the Selection Committee members will come to consensus on those auditions considered “KMEA Conference quality,” and rank those auditions in order of preference. While an effort to be inclusive of all education levels should be made, the result may vary from year to year. In any case, the desire to be inclusive should not supersede performance quality. This consensus ranking, along with all documents and materials related to the selection process will be forwarded to the KMEA president for final approval. The KMEA president may exercise adjustments to the committee’s recommendation at his/her discretion, issuing invitations to groups in an effort to balance the conference program.
Notice of those selected for Conference performance will be sent to all performing groups by August 1. Concurrent with this announcement, notice will be sent to those groups not selected to perform. All announcements will be sent by the KMEA president.
Meeting Date:
Division Selection Committee meetings should be scheduled concurrent with the Summer Board meeting in June, or prior to that weekend at the discretion of the Division chair. In any event, all evaluations must be sent to the KMEA president no later than June 30.