Director Resources

Conference Meetings

Fall Meeting - A fall meeting is held usually in late September. This will include the entire conference - east and west. All-Conference selections are done here. You will need to have nomination sheets ready for this meeting.

Pre-S&E/Large Group - A meeting is held prior to the Solo & Ensemble and Large Group festivals usually in November. This will be separate east/west meetings. Reminders for Solo & Ensemble and Large Group are discussed here, along with any rule changes or procedures that need to be mentioned. Any large ensembles for S&E should be mentioned for planning sake, as well as how many groups will be brought to Large Group Festival.

Spring Meeting - A spring meeting is held usually in late April. This will be separate east/west meetings. A recap of the year is usually done here - how did S&E go and Large Group. Future dates should also be discussed and confirmed for the next school year.

Special Meetings - Occasionally, the entire conference or east/west sections of the conference may request a special meeting as necessary. Topics can vary.

All-Conference Band & Choir

What is it? All-Conference is a chance to show off your gifted students and give them a chance to play in a large group of other talented students. If you are new, I would advise you discuss with your predecessor about what students would be worthy of All-Conference honors.

When is it? It is held on the third Saturday of January. The make up date is the fourth Saturday of January.

Where is it held? Each school takes a turn hosting the event. To know where the event is being held next, check out the Calendar page.

How does the selection process work? We try to give each school representation at the All-Conference event. Choir often will do equal representation from each school and then try to balance sections from there. Band has certain numbers of parts available. (Say we have 15 clarinet parts total - we count up how many clarinet nominations we have. If there are too many, we will work with each other to determine who will get seats.)

How do we prepare for the event? Directors should work with their selected students on the music upon receipt. Students should be prepared to play their parts confidently so the guest conductor doesn't have to worry about teaching parts. Make sure you prepare transportation for your students as well.

I am NOT hosting the event, just participating. What do I need to do? The day of the event is full of rehearsals. It would be helpful if you are around to assist if the director needs something. At some point in the day, you will likely be asked to run a sectional with an group of instruments. There will likely be some down time as well, so feel free to bring some work. If you play a jazz instrument, you are welcome to participate in the directors' jazz ensemble. We will rehearse tunes once during the day and perform that night before the kids' performance.

I am hosting the event. What do I need to do? You will need to organize the guest conductors and assist with music selection. Talk back and forth with them and with your colleagues in the conference to agree upon a set list that will work for our group. Once a set list is determined, acquire the music either by borrowing or by purchasing. You as host will need to make copies of each part and get these parts to the schools - this should be completed in November.

As you figure out chairs and parts for the band, you will need to organize percussion assignments. DON'T JUST HAND OUT PARTS! Make sure you have all of the percussion equipment necessary for the pieces. If you don't, send an email requesting someone to bring said missing equipment.

Speaking of equipment, you will need risers and shells for the choir performance area. You will likely need to borrow some of these from other schools. Send an email requesting that.

You will need to create the program. You will need bios from your guest conductors. You will also need to verify spellings of the students' names with the directors. You can check with the directors at the previous host school and see if you can get a template to work with.

You will need to organize your building - you will need a rehearsal room for the choir, and the band will rehearse in the performance space. Each school will need a classroom to be used as a homeroom.

At some point, the groups will split into sectionals - make sure you have spaces arranged to be used as sectional rehearsal rooms. That does mean several rooms/spaces for band sections.

You will need to organize food. The host provides lunch and supper for the kids, directors, and guest conductors. Each member school will pay for their own crew so make sure you send an email with the price per person for all the food. You should also have hospitality areas for the directors and drivers.

If you have WiFi at your school that is password protected, make sure you have a way to provide the directors with a way to hook into the WiFi, in case they want to do work.

Most schools will not have enough music stands to provide for the entire band. Send an email mentioning how many stands you would like each school to bring.

Prepare volunteers to help you throughout the day. A few volunteers to guide schools when they arrive and to help with hospitality areas would suffice for during the day. You should also have people to take tickets for the concert. Doors should open at 5:00 for the 6:00 concert.

You will need to make up financial report for the conference once the day is done.

Solo & Ensemble Festivals

What is it? Solo & Ensemble Festival is an opportunity for your students to perform solos, small ensembles, or large ensembles in front of adjudicators, and get comments and critiques by them. Outstanding performances may get honored by advancing to the State level Solo & Ensemble Festival in May.

When and where is it held? Depending on where you are in the conference determines when and where you go. Check out the Calendar page of the site to see the dates and locations. If you are unsure which area you go to, consult the About Us page of the site and find your school.

How do we prepare for the event? Directors should work with their students to select music that is appropriately challenging for them, and do so well in advance. Students should be prepared to play their pieces confidently so they will have great success in their performances. Make sure you prepare transportation for your students as well.

I am NOT hosting the event, just participating. What do I need to do? FOUR weeks prior to your festival date is when entries are due online. You need to input each name and event. The newer online entry system is quite nice now so this isn't as much of a chore as it used to be. About a week or two later, a preliminary schedule should be sent to you from the host directors. Look over this schedule and make sure you and your kids don't have any conflicts. Reply with conflicts and the host will try to work them out. Hopefully a couple days later, you will have a final schedule in your email. Relay these schedules to your students. You also need to make sure you have judges' copies ready. You have the choice to give these to your students ahead of time or to pass them out the day of the festival. Students also need to have introductions for their pieces prepared. Guide them so they sound reasonably intelligent when they give their introductions. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE with your students.

I am hosting the event. What do I need to do? You will need to attend a workshop to be a festival director. These workshops are hosted by WSMA in many areas of the state. You will then report to the rest of your conference about any changes.

Remind your conference about the deadline for entries multiple times. Once the deadline has passed, you will work with the system to create a schedule. No later than 2 weeks before the event should you give the conference a preliminary schedule. Send it out so each school sees their own schedule. Remind them that if they have changes, have them try to swap within the same site and within the same school. That way there is not a lot of confusion. Give them a couple days to do this and then send out final schedules. Also, remind them to pay their fees, because you don't get the subsidy check until all schools have paid for their fees.

You will need to organize a lot of equipment: pianos for nearly every room, percussion equipment, chairs, stands, etc. Let the visiting schools know what percussion equipment you are providing in detail (most supply the big items like bass drum, tympani, etc. and have them supply the small stuff). Make sure there are enough chairs and stands for the largest group in each room. Borrow from other schools if you need to.

You will need to organize your building. Determine where your sites and going to be and talk with each teacher of those rooms. Make sure you take pictures as to how the room was at the beginning so you put it back together properly. Each site should have a nice table and a comfortable chair for the judge. Have some chairs/desks available for adult-size audience members (if you use an elementary room, some of those desks will be too small). Hang signage around your building so it is easy to know where to go. You should have a nice kitchen area for judges and directors to eat. You should have a group running some concessions that can serve meal items. Make sure there is a homeroom for the schools to put stuff, an instrumental warm-up area, a vocal warm-up area, and perhaps a piano warm-up area (maybe combined with the vocal warm-up). Chairs and stands in the warm-up areas would be handy too.

You will need SEVERAL volunteers. You will need room chairpersons and door monitors for each site. And you may want to split the day in two shifts for those jobs. You will need a headquarters where directors can get sheets at the end of the day and several workers to input scores. You will need runners that will pick up official judges scores and bring them to headquarters to be tallied.

You will need to contact your judges no later than one week before the festival and give them instructions on where to go, instructions on when to meet, instructions on how they will be paid, information about food, and their schedule of the day.

You will need to print out all of the critique forms for each event. Some festivals utilize colored paper by event, some festivals utilize colored paper by school. You choose what you want to do.

On the day of the festival, you should meet with your workers and give them instructions. Then 30 minutes before the festival begins, you should meet with your judges and remind them of rules and such as WSMA will instruct in the festival handbook. Then let the day run.

After the festival has completed, you will need to fill out the financial report and submit it to WSMA and the conference.

Large Group Festivals

What is it? Large Group Festival is an opportunity for you students to perform as an entire band or choir in front of adjudicators and get comments and critiques from them. This is basically like Solo & Ensemble for the full band or choir.

How do we prepare for the event? Directors should select music as per WSMA rules for their ensemble. Work on these as you would a normal concert. Students should be prepared to play their pieces confidently so they will have great success in their performances. Make sure you prepare transportation for your students as well.

I am NOT hosting the event, just participating. What do I need to do? FOUR weeks prior to your festival date is when entries are due online. You need to input the required piece and list the other pieces you are performing. The newer online entry system is quite nice now so this isn't as much of a chore as it used to be. About a week or two later, a preliminary schedule should be sent to you from the host directors. Look over this schedule and make sure you and your kids don't have any conflicts. Reply with conflicts and the host will try to work them out. Hopefully a couple days later, you will have a final schedule in your email. Relay these schedules to your students. You also need to make sure you have judges' copies ready. Students also need to have introductions for their pieces prepared. Guide them so they sound reasonably intelligent when they give their introductions. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE with your students.

Remind your conference about the deadline for entries multiple times. Once the deadline has passed, you will work with the system to create a schedule. No later than 2 weeks before the event should you give the conference a preliminary schedule. Give them a couple days to check over this and then, if there are changes, send out final schedules. Also, remind them to pay their fees, because you don't get the subsidy check until all schools have paid for their fees.

You will need to organize equipment: percussion equipment, chairs, stands, etc. Let the visiting schools know what percussion equipment you are providing in detail (most supply the big items like bass drum, tympani, etc. and common battery percussion, but they will leave the schools to bring their own accessory percussion and mallets). Make sure there are enough chairs and stands for the largest group. Borrow from other schools if you need to.

You will need to organize your building. Determine where your performance site is going to be. The performance site should have a nice table and a comfortable chair for each of the three judges. Have some chairs/bleachers available for audience members Hang signage around your building so it is easy to know where to go. You should have a nice area for judges to eat. You may choose to have a group running some concessions that can serve meal items. Make sure there is a homeroom for the schools to put stuff, and a warm-up area. Chairs and stands in the warm-up areas would be handy too.

You will need volunteers. You will need a room chairperson and door monitor for backstage and for audience. You will need a headquarters where directors can get sheets at the end of the day and for workers to input scores. You will need a runner that will pick up official judges scores and bring them to headquarters to be tallied.

You will need to print out all of the critique forms for each group. Using 11" x 17" sized paper will give the judges a place to write detailed comments on the back.

After the festival has completed, you will need to fill out the financial report and submit it to WSMA and the conference.