Post date: May 18, 2020 5:44:1 PM
ILMEA District I Senior Orchestra Audition information 2020-2021:
****** See complete UPDATES at bottom of page ******
"As previously announced, all ILMEA Auditions at both the junior and senior levels will be virtual for the Fall of 2020. Earlier this week, the Board of Directors also voted to cancel all in-person district-level student programs for the 2020-2021 school year."
****** See complete UPDATE at bottom of page ******
York HS generally has a number of students audition for ILMEA (Illinois Music Education Association) District and All-State Orchestras. The students are generally advanced juniors and seniors and some sophomores. Freshmen are also eligible to audition if they wish. Freshmen are eligible for the District Festival if they are selected, but are not eligible for All-State. Students do the preparation largely on their own with their private instructor.
Audition Tuesday, October 6, 2020 – *** now online ***
District Festival Saturday, November 21, 2020 – *** not in person, details to be announced (see UPDATE below)
State Festival January 27 – 30, 2021, Peoria Convention Center, Peoria, Illinois *** not in person, details to be announced (see UPDATE below)
Required Audition Materials See links below for excerpts, scales, etc.
Sight Reading This year you will NOT sight read on the audition
Committment ** By auditioning, you are committing to attend and participate in the November and January festivals, if selected. **
York HS generally has a number of students audition for ILMEA (Illinois Music Education Association) District and All-State Orchestras. The students are generally advanced juniors and seniors and some sophomores. Freshmen are eligible to audition if they wish. Freshmen are eligible for the District Festival if they are selected, but are not eligible for All-State. Students do the preparation largely on their own with their private instructor.
Audition information is available at these two links: (Visit both links, to be sure you have all excerpts)
For scales, general info and statewide (Mendelssohn/Berlioz) excerpts:
http://ilmea.org/orchestra-audition-process
For District I additional excerpts (Dvorak Carnival Over) http://ilmea.org/d1-orchestra-auditions
Scales:
C, G, D, A, E, F, and Bb Major, c and g melodic minor, Violin-Viola-Cello: 3 Octaves, Bass: 2 Octaves
Quarter Note = 120, ascending and descending, Detached Bowing, legato with a strong tone.
Audition and Preparation Suggestions:
For the audition, prepare the music as best you can. Strive for technical precision, accuracy, intonation, rhythm, musicianship, dynamics, phrasing and general knowledge of the piece as a whole.
Practice regularly and carefully
Study audio recordings often, with your part or a full score. This takes only a few minutes.
While some passages stand out as “likely” audition passages, prepare all excerpts.
Look online for “ILMEA prep lessons,” or college help days (Elmhurst, VanderCook, etc…)
Know all of your scales, practice them daily, and be sure they are at mm=120, separate bows.
Do NOT play extra or higher octaves. (Bass play exactly 2 real octaves, others 3) (Up and down)
Dress nicely but comfortably for your audition, even if it is “behind a screen.”
Play “pre-auditions” for somebody – another student, your private teacher, Mr. Ostwald, etc…
Good luck!
The thorough preparation and the possible festivals are wonderfully beneficial experiences!
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*** UPDATE - August, 2020 ***
Virtual Auditions & District Festival Update
As previously announced, all ILMEA Auditions at both the junior and senior levels will be virtual for the Fall of 2020. Earlier this week, the Board of Directors also voted to cancel all in-person district-level student programs for the 2020-2021 school year. This includes the November District Festival Series and any additional District Festival events happening outside of November.
Auditions will move forward at each level because this experience offers so much to Illinois music students:
A sense of musical purpose
Practice at preparing for and creating an audition
A healthy musical goal to keep them focused on a positive outcome
Pride in their accomplishments
Online class material for educators
A common musical experience with students across the district and state
The valuable learning experience of listening to, reflecting on, and correcting or improving a musical performance
The continuing tradition of challenging, honing and strengthening their musical skills every year
We believe the online auditions will be a positive learning experience in many ways beyond just the fine arts. The social-emotional aspect of musical experiences such as these will be a positive addition to students' lives in what could be an even more disconnected time otherwise.
The virtual audition committee is still meeting and ironing out the details. Here is what we are able to share so far; we will continue to share more details and logistics in the coming weeks!
How will the audition video be submitted?
Directors will copy/paste one YouTube video link into the student nomination at nominate.ilmea.org. All audition components will be included in the one video.
What does this mean for District Festivals?
The board is working to create a valuable experience for the student musicians of Illinois. (Most likely, this will bring District Festival selected students from across the state together online.) As soon as the details have been finalized, they will be published for all ILMEA stakeholders to see. We appreciate your patience as we invent a completely new student experience.
What does this mean for All-State?
All-State Ensemble Selection will continue forward as normal. Students are selected for All-State acceptance based on their District Festival audition. That will not change for this year.
ILMEA is working to make sure that the virtual audition and festival experience will be valuable to all students who participate. Please be sure to make us aware of any barriers to participation that we may not have considered. And if you have any other questions about virtual auditions or festivals, please let us know!
Sincerely,
Darcy Nendza
Executive Director, ILMEA
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**** September UPDATE #1 ****
As you no doubt have heard, ILMEA is going virtual for our fall audition and festival events.
All information regarding audition materials can be found on our District 1 webpage, which will be updated with specific protocols for audition submissions as soon as they become available.
Here is our timeline of events -
AUDITIONS
- September 8-October 15 → Directors can nominate students for the audition process.
- September 24 → The specific portions of the excerpts and truncations of the audition etudes will be released for all divisions at both the Junior and Senior levels.
All prompts, background tracks, and other audition items needed from ILMEA will be posted to the ILMEA website. We will also be posting sample audition videos to assist directors and students in making sure they understand what is expected in the YouTube link.
- October 1-October 15 → Directors are allowed to add in their students’ audition video links. All nominations need to be completed by October 15.
- November 1 → Ensemble results released
DISTRICT FESTIVALS
November 14, 2020 - Junior Level District Festival Day (9:00am - 12:00pm)
November 21, 2020 - Senior Level District Festival Day (9:00am - 12:00pm)
ILMEA Fall Festival Masterclass Day Schedule
9:00-9:30am - Motivational Keynote for all student musicians
9:45-10:45am - Masterclass #1
11:00-12:00pm - Masterclass #2
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**** September UPDATE #2 (9/24/2020) ****
(From ILMEA leadership)
Good Afternoon, ILMEA District 1!
All information regarding excerpts for the 2020 ILMEA Auditions can be found on our District 1 Website. [This is more specific excerpt info, likely identifying exactly which passages]
Pro Tip: if you get to your audition page and see Junior High materials posted, scroll down. I promise you you'll find what you need!
Stay tuned for more tutorials on creating and uploading student recordings - they will be coming soon!
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**** October UPDATE #1 (10/5/2020) ****
Thank you for completing the Google Forms, and communicating your intent to audition for ILMEA District I this year. (if you didn't, do it now and let me know!)
Deadline: create your YouTube video and submit the link to me by Wednesday, October 14 at 12:00 noon. Advice: Please don't wait until Wednesday morning to create your video...
The specific scales and excerpts are on the chart attached. Note the violin final letter is "U." You only need to do what is in the "District I" area, that top section.
Carefully read and follow all the instructions on the other attached pdf. It includes:
- Video must be "Unlisted" or "Public." If it is "Private," the judges cannot see it.
- You may record the items separately, and combine them into one video, but no editing or splicing is allowed within individual scales or excerpts.
- give me the "copy" share URL, which is not always the same as what is in the top line of your browser.
- and more... do read it!
I am proud of you all for accepting the challenge to prepare and follow through with this audition. Let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Ray Ostwald
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**** October UPDATE #2 (10/6/2020) ****
(Title with name and school, and add time stamps)
NEW! (10/6/2020) Please have students title their submission video with their name and school (Example: Stacy Williams-Jackson, Lincoln-Way West HS) - this was contradicted in a few places, all of which are being edited to reflect this correct procedure. Since auditions are not blind this year, we should make every effort to ensure the videos are identifiable and credited to the correct student. Thank you for having your students update their videos to reflect this adjustment.
Time stamps will really help the audition process; please add them if you can. Here’s Matt Doherty’s tutorial on adding time stamps. You can also place them in the comments section of the videos, even if the student did not add them initially.
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**** November UPDATE (11/4/2020) ****
The Illinois Music Education Conference (Peoria, late January) is a time we look forward to each year - to come together with music educators from around the state for professional growth and rejuvenation. This year, due to ongoing health and safety concerns, and under guidance of the Illinois Department of Public Health, the 2021 Illinois Music Education Conference and the related All-State Student Programs in January have been cancelled by a vote of the ILMEA Board of Directors.
We understand that you will have many questions about plans moving forward - we will do our best to address some of those questions here, with the understanding that these plans are still in development and more details will be forthcoming.
All-State Student Programs
ILMEA is holding May 13-16 in Peoria as potential days for an in-person All-State Ensemble experience. These dates are tentative and depend on the ability of Illinois to be at a place with COVID that would allow in-person music making. A decision will be made on whether to attempt to go forward with these May dates by the middle of February.
Additional questions? Contact Mr. Ostwald at rostwald@elmhurst205.org .