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What is Band Festival?
What is Band Festival?
Every school year the WMS 7th and 8th grade bands have the opportunity to participate in a judged music activity called Band Festival that is sponsored by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA). At Band Festival, the students will perform in front a panel of judges to receive feedback on their performance.
There are 2 main parts of Band Festival; the Concert Performance and Sight Reading.
Concert Performance
Concert Performance
The Concert Performance happens on stage or auditorium in a normal concert setting. The requirements for the concert performance:
Concert Performance requirements:
A march
A “required” number from the classification list
Classification is based on school sized
7th Grade is class “D”
8th Grade is class “B”
A selected number of free choice
Sight Reading
Sight Reading
Sight Reading will immediately follow the concert portion and is one of the most exciting parts of festival. In the sight reading room bands will be given a new piece of music they have never played or looked at before, and are given 5 minutes to prepare the music to perform the new piece for a judge.
During the 5 minutes the students are not allowed to play their instruments, but they can hum, sing, clap - anything except playing their instruments - to prepare and study the music. After the 5 minutes is up, the bands will perform the music and will receive comments and a rating from the judge in the room. You will be amazed at how great the students sound playing a new piece of music, and you get to watch the learning process of playing new music!
Ratings/Results
Ratings/Results
After performing the students will find out their rating. Bands are given a rating from 1 to 5, with 1 being the best. The numbers can be thought of as a grading scale: 1 = A, 2 = B 3 = C, etc. All bands have the opportunity to earn the highest rating - the bands do not compete against each other!
Some bands may choose to go for Comments Only, meaning the band does not receive a rating or grade, but only the feedback and comments from the judges.
While we encourage the students to do their absolute best at this performance, the most important part of this performance (and all performances!) is that the students give their best effort and they notice the improvement they have made. You will hopefully hear a big difference in their music from tonight to their performance at festival!
The judges at band festival are there to evaluate and give written comments to the bands so the students and directors have some feedback on how to continue to improve. Each judge will have a copy of the music the band is performing, and will rate the band in the following areas:
Tone (sound)
Intonation (being in tune)
Rhythm (playing together, precision)
Technique (how students play the instrument, articulation)
Interpretation (volume, tempo, style)
Rating Sheet.pdfClick on the image to see a sample of the rating sheet the judges use.
Posted Ratings
Posted Ratings
Ratings are typically posted in the cafeteria on poster board similar to the picture. Roman numerals are used to display the judges ratings.
Final ratings are the average of the concert and sight reading judges ratings. A "1" is the highest rating a band can receive!
Uniforms
The bands will wear their WMS Band Polo shirts to festival, along with black pants, shoes and socks. PLEASE HELP THE STUDENTS LOOK THEIR BEST! Part of being in a performing group is teaching the students to take time to look their best and show pride in what they do. While the way the students are dressed is not part of the rating, first impressions mean a lot and a well dressed group will set a high expectation from the audience and judges!
If anyone is in need of assistance getting black shoes, pants or socks, please let Mr. Finkbeiner know! We have some extra uniform parts to loan to students.
Click the image to see what we're calling "Awkward Mr. Finkbeiner uniform pictures".
Uniform Examples.pdf
Spectators
Spectators
Anyone can attend the festival performance free of charge, and the students love having a big audience to cheer them on! It is exciting to see the students play on a great stage in an excellent performing arts center, and you will hopefully hear a big improvement in their performance.
Itineraries for 7th & 8th Grade Bands
Itineraries for 7th & 8th Grade Bands
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