NYSSMA All-State Festival – The New York State School Music Association organizes this festival annually in conjunction with its Winter Conference in Rochester. Four ensembles result: Symphonic Band, Treble Chorus, Mixed Chorus, and Symphony Orchestra. This festival gathers together the finest Suffolk student-musicians in 11th and 12th grade. NYSCAME/SCMEA High School All-County Festival – The NY State Council of Administrators of Music Education and the Suffolk County Music Educators Association organize an All-County festival for November each year. Once selected, students must commit to learning the music prior to the festival, and attending all festival rehearsals and performances. A teacher’s nomination is not a sign of acceptance into the festival ensemble.
Final ensemble musicians are selected by qualified festival chairpersons from within the professional organizations.
These thresholds vary depending on the festival and the instrument. School music teachers for each area will nominate students whose NYSSMA Level and Score is high enough to be considered for each ensemble. There is no “All-State” for piano, except for students who audition for the All-State Jazz Ensemble.įor more information, please visit the NYSSMA website or speak to your child’s music teacher.Įach of the following honor ensembles requires a NYSSMA score from the previous year. Students who play piano at home may also register to perform a NYSSMA solo for adjudication, but will need to register through their school music teacher (please note: there is now a separate piano solo festival in Suffolk County, on different dates than the area solo festival). NYSSMA scores are used in determining nominations for a number of honor ensembles during the following school year. Students in 10th and 11th grades may choose to perform a level six solo as an audition for the NYSSMA All-State Festival. The judge also provides praise, comments, and suggestions to promote the student’s continued growth as a musician. Students perform their prepared solo – along with a spontaneous site-reading – in front of a judge who scores the performance based on a clear rubric. Solos are organized in six levels of difficulty, and students are encouraged to return to the festival each year to perform increasingly challenging solos. With guidance from their music teachers, students choose a solo piece specifically composed or arranged for their instrument or voice part. The NY State School Music Association sponsors this adjudication festival annually, and it is hosted in locations all over New York.
Information and registration forms for the 2019 NYSSMA Festival can be found by clicking here. This protects the privacy of the students. The professional groups that organize these festivals do not communicate directly with students and parents festival organizers will only speak to school district officials and/or the student’s nominating teacher. Please note that students/parents should not contact these organizations directly. School music teachers (ensemble directors) will nominate students to be part of any festivals for which they qualify. If you have any questions about the online registration, contact Scarsdale District Music & Performing Arts Department Office at are many wonderful opportunities for music students to perform in select ensembles throughout the county and state.
The NYSSMA manual and your preferred time slot, and make the payment for the participation fee. Once logged-in to your account, complete the NYSSMA online registration form, indicating the page number of your selected solo from
To register, log in to or download the MySchoolBucks Mobile App and click on the Performing Arts icon.
If you have not previously used MySchoolBucks, go to or download the MySchoolBucks Mobile App and sign up for your free account. If you already use MySchoolBucks to pay for school meals or other items in the district, your account is already set up for registration. Please note: each festival has a deadline after which the registration window will close. All registrations and payments for Scarsdale students are to be completed online through If you are registering more than one child, you must complete a separate registration for each child.