A Parent's Guide to Competition

Region

This contest has been sponsored by the UIL for over half a century and takes place in the 24 different designated regions in the state in October each year. Bands march shows of no less than 5 minutes and no more than 8 minutes to be given a rating by each of three independent judges: 1=superior; 2=excellent; 3=good; 4=fair; 5=poor. The judges cannot confer about their ratings and the FINAL rating is a consensus of the three NOT an average. For instance, a I, I, V is a ONE. A V, V, I is a FIVE, etc. Theoretically, EVERY band can get a I=superior or a V= poor. The competition is NOT among the bands themselves but against a standard of excellence that has been established through the many decades of this competition. This contest was the primary competitive goal of Texas bands until 1979 when the State Marching Contest was founded. It is still the first of three parts of a "Sweepstakes" which includes Marching, Concert, and Sight-reading.

Area

This contest is held every two years. Its sole purpose is to choose the State Qualifiers from the regions within our area: 1, 2, 16, and 24. One band per 5 entered will advance to the State Marching Contest. The contest uses 5 judges: 3 music judges and 2 marching judges. Each judge ranks the bands from top to bottom and the total ranks are added for a "rank total." The lowest rank total is first place!

State

The contest has been held since 1979 to choose a State Champion in each class. It is now held every two years in even-numbered years and has been moved to the Alamodome in San Antonio to prevent weather interruptions. The contest is similar to the Area Contest with five judges and the lowest total of "rank points" becomes first.

The Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) sponsors individual competitions every fall that culminate in the selection of the All-State Bands, Choirs, and Orchestras that perform at the annual convention held in San Antonio, TX in February. The 28 Texas regions hold the first level of competition and the top students advance to the Area level held in January. In each of the seven Areas, a designated number of the top students are selected to All-State. At each level of competition, students perform for a panel of 5 judges in a blind audition where judges are screened from sight and do not know which students are performing. Just as in other head-to-head competitions in Texas, each judge ranks each student in comparison with the other and the lowest total of rank points is first chair! The All-Region Bands perform in a concert in the middle of January each year, but the Area Band is for qualification purposes only. The All-State groups rehearse for 3 days in February before their performances with internationally acclaimed conductors and educators!

This is the staple competition for UIL, occurring every year in the spring in all 24 regions of the state. Bands prepare a concert program of three pieces chosen from the Prescribed Music List and perform for a panel of three judges who rate the bands with one of five ratings, just as in regional marching competition. Again, the comparison is only with a standard of excellence, not with other bands in the contest. Theoretically, every band could earn a First Division or a Fifth Division! Immediately following the concert, bands move to another room to sight-read a piece of music chosen to be read by all the bands within a class statewide! The music for sight-reading is composed specifically for the contest and addresses certain fundamentals that are aligned with the curriculum for each classification. This is the musical equivalent of a statewide achievement test for Band.

Solo and Ensemble Contest is an "individual" competition that is usually held in February and May of each year. Students choose a solo and/or an ensemble and begin preparation in November/December. Once again, judges are rating each performance compared to a statewide scale of excellence, not as a comparison of one student to another. A judge will listen to the performance, write comments to the performer(s) and assign a rating (1=superior; 2=excellent; 3=good; 4=fair; 5=poor) based on the preparation and performance. Students earn medals for receiving a First Division rating (1) from the judge.