State Marching Band Festival
The State Marching Band Festival is held in five different school sites throughout the Commonwealth, which are the West, Central, East, Northeast, and Southeast. Most schools in each of the competition sites are roughly located in their respective region within Virginia. Groups are then classified by the marching band's number of playing members (winds + percussion), from 1A (smallest, 50 or fewer members) to 5A (largest).
Unlike many other band competitions, there are no awards for 1st place, etc., but every band receives a rating of I (Superior); II (Excellent); III (Good); IV (Fair); or V (Poor). In "Olympic Festival" format, a panel of five judges rates each band. The highest and the lowest ratings from individual judges are removed before determining the band's final rating. An example would be if a band receives one I rating, three II ratings, and one III rating; the I and III would be removed, giving the band a final rating of II, which is the average of the other three judges who all gave the band a II.
District Concert Band Festival
This event is held typically in the first couple of weekends in March. Unlike the State Marching Band Festival where there are five sites spread out throughout the region, the Concert Band festival is held at least one site for each district, because more groups typically perform at this event. Many high schools have two or three concert bands and thus bring each group to the festival. A very large amount of middle schools also bring their bands to this event as well.
Each band is classified by the grade of music they are playing, which ranges from I (easy) to VI (hard). Most high school bands play music that range from grade IV to VI; middle school bands tend to play music in the grade II or III category, and some middle school bands with a high degree of talent play at grade IV.
In the concert band festival, most bands choose to play three pieces in an auditorium. The repertoire always consists of one march, one piece from an overture or suite, and one piece of their choice. A panel of three judges then grades the group a rating from I to V, similar to the way judges give ratings at the State Marching Festival. After the concert, the band will go to a different room to sightread a piece. The piece is always two grade levels below the repertoire they played at the concert (A band that plays Grade VI in the concert plays a Grade IV in the sightreading), unless it is a Grade II or I band who would play a beginning level piece. The sightreading judge then assigns the band a rating from I to V.
Some bands choose not to do sightreading, and perform only in the concert. By doing so, they are to prepare four pieces (one march, one overture/suite, and two other pieces of the band's choosing at the same level). During the festival, the band will still play three pieces like other bands who do sightreading because of time constraints. The three pieces are chosen in this order. First, the march will be played. Of the remaining three pieces, the judges (about a week before the festival) get to pick one of the three remaining pieces, and the band chooses the third piece of the remaining two after the judges pick.
The four judges' ratings are all averaged (but weighted more heavily towards the concert judges) to determine the band's final rating, which ranges from I to V. For example, a band that received two I's and a II from the third concert judge, and a II from the sightreading judge will receive a final rating of I, but a band with two II's and a I from the third concert judge and the sightreading judge get a II, though both bands had two I's and II's.
District/Regional Orchestra Festival
This event is held typically in the first half of March in the same format as the District Concert Band Festival, except with string only ensembles and other symphony orchestras from both the high and middle school level. Many schools bring multiple groups to the festival, especially if they have a strong orchestra program.
The festival is held at the district level whenever possible, but orchestras may have regional festivals, and/or may play during the District Concert Band Festival, especially if there are not many school districts with orchestra programs in the area.
All groups are stratified based on the grade of music (I to VI like the band) they are playing and are assigned a rating of I to V in the same format as the concert band festival, based on their concert and sightreading performance if they choose to do so.
Virginia Honor Band
Any school that receives a final rating of I at both the State Marching Band Festival and at Concert Band Festival with its highest graded ensemble is given the title of a Virginia Honor Band, a practice established in 1982. Schools are given special recognition if they win Honor Band Award 10 times and 15 times. Any school that wins the Virginia Honor Band Award 20 times or more is given the "Hall of Fame" designation.
Currently, seven schools are in the Hall of Fame: Lake Braddock Secondary School of Burke has been an Honor Band every year since the award was established (31 times); Charlottesville High School of Charlottesville (27 times); Hermitage High School of Richmond (30 times); Blacksburg High School (20 times); Robinson Secondary School of Fairfax (28 times); North Stafford High School (21 times); and James River High School of Midlothian (20 times).
Lake Braddock Secondary School (LBSS) in Burke, Virginia, United States, administered by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), is one of three 7-12 secondary schools in Fairfax County; the other two are Hayfield SS and Robinson SS. Lake Braddock opened in 1973. Its mascot is the bruin, and the school colors are purple and gold.
Charlottesville High School is a public high school in the independent city of Charlottesville, Virginia, serving students from 9th to 12th grade. It is a part of Charlottesville City Schools.
Hermitage High is a public school located in the West End of Henrico County, Virginia. The mascot of Hermitage High School is the panther. Hermitage High School has athletic facilities with a concrete football stadium and a rubber-turf track.
All Regional Orchestra
There are several regions for the All Regional Orchestra which are composed of multiple districts. They are:
- Northern Virginia (Districts 10-12)
- North Central (9, 14-16)
- South Central (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13)
- Southeastern (2, 4, 8)
There are roughly 110 members in the regional orchestra, which includes mostly string players and some wind and percussion players. The auditions are typically held in late September for all players, and all auditions are administered by judges behind a partition to ensure anonymity as judges tend to be local high and middle school band and orchestra directors.
String players play two major scales, and a melodic minor three octaves in range. They also play a prepared piece, and a sight-reading piece. Wind and mallet percussion players play two major scales for the full range of their instrument, chromatic scale for the full range of their instrument as well as a prepared piece and a sight-reading piece. Percussion players play rudiments and rolls on the snare drum, as well as on other instruments including the timpani and auxiliary percussion.
The event is held around the first or second weekend of November each year, and the group is conducted by a guest conductor, usually from the college level. The top players of each instrumental section are eligible to audition for the All Virginia Band and Orchestra.
All District Band
All 16 VBODA districts have their own District Band, unlike the Regional Orchestras which combine several districts together.
Auditions for the All District Band are typically in early December or early January depending on the district's policy. Wind and mallet percussion plays play two major scales for the full range of their instrument; as well as prepared and sightreading pieces. Percussion players play rudiments and rolls on the snare drum, as well as on other instruments including the timpani and auxiliary percussion.
There are at least two district bands, one middle school band of about 100 members (6th, 7th and 8th grade); and a high school band with at least 100 members (9th-12th grade). Many districts however choose to have more than one band, usually for the high school level. In fact, only District 16 (which consists only of Loudoun County Public Schools) chooses to have only one band with about 100 members. Districts 10 and 12 (Fairfax County Public Schools, Arlington County, and Alexandria) have two bands, the top musicians in a wind ensemble of about 50 members and a consolation band with 100 members. The remaining districts choose to have two large high school bands with about 100 members each.
Loudoun County Public Schools is a branch of the Loudoun County, Virginia, United States government, and administers public schools in the county. LCPS's headquarters is located at 21000 Education Court in Ashburn, an unincorporated section of the county.
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's headquarters is located in the Gatehouse Administration Center in Merrifield, an unincorporated section of the county near the city of Falls Church; the headquarters has a Falls Church address but is not within the city limits.
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia, often referred to simply as Arlington or Arlington, Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington is considered to be the second-largest "principal city" of the Washington metropolitan area.
The event is held around the first or second weekend of February each year, and the group is conducted by a guest conductor, usually from the college level. The top players in each instrumental section are eligible to audition for the All Virginia Band and Orchestra.
All Virginia Band and Orchestra
Top players in the All Regional Orchestras and the All District Bands are eligible to audition for the All Virginia Band and Orchestra (more commonly known as All State Band or Orchestra), which is held on the third or fourth Saturday in February at a Virginia college or university. Historically, the auditions have been held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.
James Madison University is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison College in 1938 in honor of President James Madison and then James Madison University in 1977. The university is situated in the Shenandoah Valley, with the campus quadrangle located on South Main Street.
String players, with the exception of double bass players are only eligible to play in the orchestra. All players are to play all major scales up to three octaves and all melodic minors up to and including 4 sharps and flats. They then are to play a prepared etude and sightreading piece which consists of the rest of their score. Harp players also are only able to audition for the orchestra, and are to play a technical etude (40% of score); a prepared piece (40% of score); and sightreading (20%) of score.
Most wind players (except for saxophones, euphoniums, and most low reeds) are eligible to audition for both the band and orchestra to play two major scales, and their chromatic scale to the full range of their instruments all which count for 40% of their score. They then play a prepared piece and sightreading selection which count 30% each toward their score.
Percussion players are eligible to audition for both the band and orchestra. They are to audition on three instruments which they will play prepared pieces and sightreading on: timpani, snare, and mallets. The top performers on timpani, snare, and mallets are the ones who make All Virginia. Auditioners go to six rooms during the audition in the following order where they play rudiments and scales (if applicable): Timpani prepared piece; Timpani sightreading; Snare prepared piece; Snare sightreading; Mallets prepared piece; Mallets sightreading If an auditioner makes All Virginia in more than one percussion category, she or he is placed in the group and category that she or he preferred to be in.
The placement of students in the band and orchestra is dependent on the auditioner's preference (if available) and how well she or he does relative to other auditioners. There is one orchestra, and two concert bands (the first band is the Symphonic Band, the second band is the Concert Band). Each group has about 110 members each.
The All Virginia Band and Orchestra event is held during the first Thursday through Saturday of April in a Virginia high school, college, or university in varying locations each year.
Virginia Honor Band Directors
Individual band directors of Virginia high schools who receive the honor band award multiple times are given special recognitions if they do so 10 and 15 years, regardless at how many schools she or he won the honor band with. A band director joins the VBODA "Hall of Fame" if she or he wins the award 20 times, again without regard to how many schools the director won the honor band award previously.
Currently, there are three Hall of Fame Band Directors, who are Vince Tornello, who won the award 26 times, all at Charlottesville High School of Charlottesville City; Dan Schoemmell, who won the award 22 times, 11 at James Wood High School of Winchester, and 11 at Sherando High School of Stephens City; and Roy Holder, who won the award 22 times, 20 at Lake Braddock Secondary School and 2 at West Potomac High School of Alexandria.
James Wood High School is located at the northern tip of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia and is a part of the Frederick County Public School system. It is located at 161 Apple Pie Ridge Road.
Sherando High School is a public secondary school within Frederick County, Virginia, United States, and is part of Frederick County Public Schools. The school is located east of the town of Stephens City.
West Potomac High School, formerly Groveton High School, is a public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. It is located at 6500 Quander Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22307 and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. The percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments, following the human voice.
Timpani or kettledrums are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a semispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Most modern timpani are pedal timpani and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands.
A concert band, also called wind ensemble, symphonic band, wind symphony, wind orchestra, wind band, symphonic winds, symphony band, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments, and occasionally including the double bass or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, harp, synthesizer, or electric guitar.
A drumline, also known as the battery or batterie, is a section of percussion instruments usually played as part of a musical marching ensemble. A drumline can also be a section on their own competing against other drumlines.Marching bands, drum and bugle corps, and indoor percussion ensembles are some examples of groups that include a drumline.
Marching percussion instruments are specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands use such harnesses and instead use traditional baldrics to sling their drums. The drums are designed and tuned for maximum articulation and projection of sound, as marching activities are almost always outdoors or in large interior spaces. Articulation is paramount to producing a "clean" sound from all the drummers in the line. These instruments are used by marching bands, drum and bugle corps, indoor percussion ensembles, and pipe bands. A marching percussion ensemble is frequently known as a drumline or battery.
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors. A school band consists of woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, although upper level bands may also have string basses or bass guitar.
Fairfax High School is a public high school in the eastern United States, located in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb west of Washington, D.C. The school is owned by the City of Fairfax, but is operated by Fairfax County Public Schools as part of a contractual agreement.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is a 1945 musical composition by Benjamin Britten with a subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell. It was based on the second movement, "Rondeau", of the Abdelazer suite. It was originally commissioned for the British educational documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent; Sargent also conducted the concert première on 15 October 1946 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England.
Creekview High School is a public high school located in the city of Carrollton, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District located in southeast Denton County. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.
Orchestral percussion are percussion instruments used in orchestras and concert bands mainly in classical music and related styles. The term can also refer to the department or study of performance on said instruments at a music school or conservatory. Generally within such a department, students are required to study all aspects of orchestral playing; with marimba, snare drum, and timpani being the three most basic areas of study. Orchestral percussion usually does not include a drum set, but some compositions do require one.
Hampton High School is a public secondary school in Hampton, Virginia. It is the oldest of the four current high schools in Hampton Public Schools, built in 1956. It is an International Baccalaureate World School with the Diploma Programme. Hampton High is the first high school in the Hampton city high school division and the second largest district worldwide.
Mount Lebanon Percussion is the percussion program for the high school of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. With six concert ensembles, four specialty ensembles and a marching percussion section, the program has been recognized as one of the premier percussion groups in the nation. Staff members include Richard T. Minnotte, Director; Jeremy DeLuca, Associate Director; Subha Das, Principal Assistant Director; Jason Miller, and Dan Muenier, Assistant Directors.
Mitchell Thomas Peters was a principal timpanist and percussionist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He composed well-known pieces for the marimba such as "Yellow After the Rain" and "Sea Refractions"; it is said that these works were composed because Peters felt that there was a lack of musically interesting material that would introduce his students to four-mallet marimba techniques. Several of his snare drum and timpani etude books are in common use as well.
Eight Pieces for Four Timpani is a collection of short pieces by Elliott Carter for solo timpani – four drums played by one musician. Six of the pieces were composed in 1950. Two new pieces were added in 1966, and the rest were revised in collaboration with percussionist Jan Williams. Carter wrote the pieces as studies in tempo modulation and the use of four-note chords. They are a collection rather than a suite, as Carter suggested no more than four be performed at once. The pieces make heavy use of extended techniques, including playing with the back end of the timpani sticks, varying the beating spot on the drumhead, glissandos, and sympathetic vibration.
Kecoughtan High School is a public high school located in Hampton, Virginia. The current grades offered are 9–12. Kecoughtan High School is one of four high schools located in the Hampton City Public School District. The other three are Phoebus High School, Bethel High School, and Hampton High School.
The New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) is the New York affiliate of National Association for Music Education. NYSSMA is a professional organization that evaluates student musicians in New York state from elementary school to high school. Each spring, thousands of students register through their school music programs to attend NYSSMA Evaluation Festivals where they are adjudicated. These festivals take place at local middle and high schools, as well as state colleges and state universities within the fifteen NYSSMA zones, each of which covers an area in New York State. Usually, county high schools take turns to host the festival every few years.
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The Richmond Symphony Youth OrchestraProgram (YOP) is a program for students that introduces them into the world of the symphony. YOP is sponsored by the Richmond Symphony.
The percussion section is one of the main divisions of the orchestra and the concert band. It includes most percussion instruments and all unpitched instruments.
College Station High School is a public high school located in College Station, Texas (USA). The school is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is part of the College Station Independent School District located in southern Brazos County.