NYSSMA SOLO FESTIVAL

NYSSMA 2020 is cancelled

My Dear Friends and Colleagues,

NYSSMA recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has closed all of our schools and the feasibility of rescheduling almost 150 festivals is no longer possible. Therefore, we have sadly determined we can no longer move forward with Festival Season 2020.

All 2020 solo festivals and major ensemble festivals are cancelled.

NYSSMA leadership is currently investigating options for All-State auditions for the 2020 Winter Conference.

Sincerely,

David

Dr. David M. Brown

President, New York State School Music Association

NYSSMA 2020

When: Monday, April 23, 2020

Location: Sachem High School NORTH



What is NYSSMA?

NYSSMA is the state professional organization for music educators. It stands for New York State School Music Association. One of the major events that NYSSMA sponsors is the Solo and Ensemble Evaluation Festivals held each spring across all of New York State. The Festival provides the opportunity for student musicians to perform a musical selection before a professional adjudicator and receive a rating and feed back on their performance. This is an authentic assessment which has been utilized for many years and has become the model for many other state assessments in other academic areas. Preparing a NYSSMA solo is an optional, extra task, above and beyond the regular chorus work.

Students who register for the solo Festival are required to prepare a solo chosen from the NYSSMA Manual which is broken up into six ability levels. One of the component of the performance is a sight-reading section. Students are presented with a short musical excerpt equivalent to their level of difficulty and asked to briefly study it, and then sing it to the best of their ability.

Students who perform on levels 1-4 are scored out of a possible 28 points and are rated as either “Outstanding,” “Excellent,” “Good,” “Fair,” and so on. Students performing at levels 5 and 6 are scored out of a possible 100 points and rated as “A+,” “A,” “A-,” and so on.

While the NYSSMA Solo Festival is a wonderful opportunity, students should be aware that this is an extra time commitment and will require consistent home practice to be successful. NYSSMA evaluations are very useful tools for the student and teachers as they work to improve individual performance skills. NYSSMA Solo Festival grades are also used in the selection process for ALL County Music Ensembles, Suburban Council Music Ensembles, All-STATE Ensembles (grades 10 and 11), Empire State Youth Orchestra applications, and Saratoga Springs Youth Orchestra applications. Participation in these festivals can also be listed on college application and are often put on student resumes to highlight student musical participation and achievement.

NYSSMA Preparation:

  • If the student does not have a private teacher outside of school, a group lesson will be given instead of regular chorus lessons. Please understand that private lessons during the school will not be given due to limited time. Students are expected to work and learn the songs on their own. Students should practice his/her piece regularly before the festival. Your entire piece must be memorized!!!

  • Sight Reading will also be part of your performance. Practice sight reading everyday!!!!!

What to buy:

  • Sheet music for the judge will not be provided by the school. Please prepare to purchase your own copies. The sheet music must be original not a copy. NYSSMA will not permit any photocopied music. It also need to be the correct edition and publisher.

The Day of NYSSMA:

  • Please dress nicely for this event. (Hint: If it is nice enough for picture day, it's most likely nice enough as performance attire.)

  • Please bring your NYSSMA playing permit.with your assigned time and the room #