State Junior High Band
Festival Manager

Christine Wolf

cwolf@dsdmail.net

Utah JH/Middle School Band Directors,

 

We hope that the start of the school year has gone as smoothly as possible for you. This year has many unique school schedule variations and unforeseen complications, which is why we have decided to make some modifications to the Utah JH/Middle School State Concert Band Festival. Below, you will find a list of changes that have been made to this year’s festival to help alleviate some of the unique complications that we all are facing.

 

  1. For this year only, there will be no audition for the festival. Applications will be available starting on Friday, January 8th, 2021 at 5:00 PM. The first 30 bands to submit an application will be accepted to the festival.

  2. Directors will have until Friday, January 15th to pay the registration fee, or their spot will be forfeit to the next applicant band.

  3. Due to the application only format, only one ensemble per school will be allowed to submit for the state festival. If under 30 bands apply, a follow up email will be sent out to applicants to check for interest in submitting any second ensembles.

  4. There will be no application fee for this year’s festival, as there will be no need to pay for adjudicators to select the participating bands. The registration fee of $210 will still apply.

  5. All adjudicators this year will be from Utah. Comments, critique, and clinic will still follow the same format as in prior years, but no ratings for on stage performances will be given. There will also be no sight reading component to this year’s festival.

  6. For this year only, there will be no grade level requirement for the pieces performed at festival. We encourage you to program pieces that meet the educational needs and level of your students that also reflect the shortened amount of rehearsal time that your school or district may have. Selected repertoire should still be festival appropriate and should NOT include any film or pops music.

  7. The exact dates of the festival are still TBA due to the exploration of a few different venues. The festival will take place during the week of March 6th through March 12th. More details will follow shortly.

  8. Performance blocks and schedule listening times will be adjusted to allow for few groups in the hall at any given time. The exact number of groups assigned to listen will be determined based on current social distancing guidelines as we get closer to the spring semester.

  9. Under no circumstances will the festival revert to the normal festival schedule for this school year. If further restrictions are ordered by federal, state, or local governments, UMEA and the festival chairs reserve the sole right to place further modifications upon the festival.

 

We thank you for your continued support of UMEA and sincerely hope that you will consider applying for this year’s state festival. As fellow junior high teachers, we share your same concerns and will do everything in our power to make this year’s festival a safe and educationally rewarding experience for you and your students. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

Sincerely,

 

Lance Major and Christine Wolf

UMEA JH Band Festival Chairs