I. General Information	II. Director's Responsibilities	III. Student Eligibility	IV. Audition Registration
V. Audition Chair's Responsibilities	VI. Audition Procedure	BAND A	BAND B

I. General Information [top]

A. District 7 shall operate one jazz band festival consisting of schools from District 7. Live auditions will be utilized; the auditions will be held in January on the first Friday school is in session after the Holiday break. A "Bad Weather" date of the following Monday will also be established. Students shall be placed in two bands based upon their overall scores, and in the case of bass trombone, tuba, guitar, auxiliary percussion, vibraphone, and vocal, upon overall score and judges recommendation. The higher scoring students will be placed in one band and the remaining students will be placed in the second band. It is suggested that the date of the festival be the weekend in March between the last two Regional events. The date will be presented to the District 7 Executive Board for approval.

B. The size of the bands will be determined by the Festival Host in consultation with the Audition Chair and District 7 Executive Board. A minimum "big band" instrumentation is required for each band [5 saxes, 4 trombones, 5 trumpets (double lead), 1 piano, 1 bass, 1 drum set].

C. Students will audition from the PMEA All-State Jazz Band requirements that may be excerpted when appropriate. The performance of the solo transcription or arrangement, ballad, and improvisation is required. Due to the difficulty of some elements of the All-State Jazz Band audition repertoire, elements of the PMEA All-State Jazz Band audition requirements may be excerpted as needed. The audition chair, in conjunction with the PMEA District 7 President and the PMEA District 7 Jazz Band Committee, may choose appropriate excerpts. This process will be completed as soon as possible after the All-State requirements are announced.

D. An audition fee, established by the Executive Committee, will be required to defray the expense of the audition and festival. The fee is $5 per pupil as of July 1, 2001. In addition, a participation fee of $25 per school district will be assessed. A fee of $20.00 per student, up to a total of $100.00, will be assessed for any late (after the established due date) student audition registrations. This is in addition to the $5.00 per pupil fee and the $25.00 per school district fee.

E. After all dates related to District 7 Jazz Band are finalized, they will be published in the Fall District 7 Newsletter.

F. No student will be permitted to leave the building until the completion of auditions at which time they will leave with their directors or appointed chaperones (exception covered under Section I, Letter G).

G. Local students and students with special circumstances desiring to leave auditions early must complete the permission form provided in the Fall Newsletter. The form must be given to the President at the beginning of the directors meeting prior to the auditions.

H. A vocal jazz ensemble will be added to the PMEA District 7 Jazz Festival. A recommend number of students for this ensemble will be 16. (March, 2008)

I. A rhythm section will be added to the vocal jazz ensemble. (March, 2008)

J. With the addition of the vocal jazz ensemble, the jazz band vocalist will be removed from the jazz band ensemble. With that said, an outstanding vocalist can still be recommended to perform with the jazz band according to the By-laws. (March, 2008)

II. Director's Responsibilities [top]

The Director:

A. Must be a current member in good standing with PMEA/MENC. Being derelict in this requirement will result in the Director's students being declared ineligible for District Events.

B. Will process all audition information to the Audition Chair by the deadline date. Failure to do so will result in the Director's students being ineligible to audition.

C. Must attend the entire evening of auditions. The will be a general meeting at the start of auditions followed by the actual auditions. A general meeting will also occur at the conclusion of all auditions for the purpose of reviewing auditions and distributing materials. Directors are required to attend both meetings.

D. Must serve as judge or in other capacities where assigned by the Audition Chair.

E. Will receive, process, and return to the District Jazz Band Host all required information for his/her students. Festival deadlines must be followed.

F. Or his/her designee, MUST be in attendance of all sanctioned meetings as scheduled by the Festival Host and District President. Failure to adhere to this guideline might result in the school and its students being declared ineligible for participation in District 7 Jazz Band during the following school year.

G. Under unique or emergency situations, may be excused by the District President or designee upon the receipt of a request from the school Superintendent with the understanding that upon approval said school district will provide a qualified substitute who is a PMEA member.

III. Student Eligibility [top]

Band(s) eligibility will consist of those pupils who are presently in grades 9-12.

A. Student must be in good standing in the High School Jazz Band. Exception may be granted only if the school does not have provisions for a jazz band.

B. Students should not apply to the festival if, for any reason including religious activity, they plan to miss part of the festival. A student must participate in the complete festival program commencing with registration and concluding with the final concert, except in the case of illness that must be verified in writing by a physician within 5 days of the festival. Students must rehearse and perform all musical compositions selected for the concert.

C. Students must earn membership into District 7 Jazz Band through a "selective" audition.

D. Students may audition on one instrument only, unless the second instrument is voice. A student may audition on two instruments if and only if one of the two instruments is voice. For the purposes of district jazz band auditions, "voice" is considered an instrument. The following instruments will be considered for District Jazz Band: saxophone (alto, tenor, baritone), trumpet, tenor trombone, bass trombone, tuba, guitar, piano, bass (electric or acoustic), drum set, voice, and vibraphone.

IV. Audition Registration [top]

The registration forms must be submitted to the Audition Chair by the pupil's Band Director and must be accompanied by all registration fees.

A. The audition materials must be postmarked by the date indicated in the District 7 Newsletter and on the registration form. Failure to have the materials postmarked on or before the due date will result in the disqualification of students. Exact dates and registration forms will be published in the Fall District 7 Newsletter.

V. Audition Chair's Responsibilities [top]

The Audition Chair will:

A. Secure an audition location in accordance with the audition dates.

B. Collect and process all registration information and fees.

C. Contact and schedule PMEA and/or IAJE members to evaluate the recorded auditions. A District 7 Director may serve as a judge. Whenever possible, the judge's student(s) should not be auditioning on the instrument s/he is evaluating. Assign a chair for each judging committee. Whenever possible, the minimum instrument groups should be 1) alto saxophones, 2) tenor saxophones, 3) trumpets, 4) trombones and tubas, 5) drums, and 6) rhythm section/vocalist. Instrument groups may be divided into smaller sections at the Audition Chair's discretion.

D. Send judging assignments and audition information to every participating director at least two weeks prior to the audition date.

E. Send individual instrument audition chairs a duties and procedures page along with the notification of assignments.

F. Oversee all audition proceedings to insure smooth and equitable auditions for all students. Insure that the audition rubrics are used correctly and consistently.

G. Check committee chairperson's results and publish a listing of the Festival's personnel.

H. Return audition evaluation sheets to each auditioning school's director.

I. Forward to Host Director the required instrumentation plus one alternate (one alternate of each: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, trombone, trumpet, piano, bass, drums).

J. Compile a database of students registered for auditions including student's names, instruments, and school information.

K. Assign student audition numbers.

L. Print audition score rubrics that include blanks for judges scores and student audition numbers.

M. Print student audition cards with name, audition number, school and instrument information.

N. Distribute student audition cards to band and orchestra directors on the evening of auditions.

O. Distribute student rubrics to audition committee chairpersons on the evening of auditions.

P. Insure that computers are available for tabulation at school hosting student auditions.

Q. Supervise tabulation or "computer room" committee on audition day.

R. From audition results, print results with student rankings for festival host and district officers.

S. Maintain file of audition results until festival date.

VI. Audition Procedure [top]

A. All recordings will be evaluated using the Audition Rubrics approved for District 7 Jazz Band Auditions.

B. Based upon current All-State Jazz Band audition requirements, the following point system will be utilized. Wind instruments: Prepared solo 50 points, Ballad 50 points, Improvisation 20 points. Piano: prepared piece 90 points, improvisation 20 points. Guitar: prepared piece: 100 points, improvisation 20 points. Voice: ballad 50 points, up-tempo 50 points. Bass: prepared pieces 180 points. If the All-State Jazz Band or District Jazz 7 Band audition requirements change, the point allocation may be modified by the Audition Chair in consultation with the PMEA District 7 President and District 7 Jazz Band Committee.

C. Each grouping of instruments is assigned to at least one room. Due to the special needs or the size of the group, particular instruments may be assigned to more than one room.

D. Whenever possible, two judges will be assigned to each room.

E. During the audition process in all rooms, judges may not face the students.

F. For wind instruments, judges in Room #1 will listen to the ballad and improvisation. Judges in Room #2 will listen to the prepared piece. For the rhythm section players, judges will listen to all of the requirements in one room. The vocal students will be divided into girls and guys for the audition, with one room for each group. Judges will listen to all of the audition requirements in one room. (ammended March, 2008)

G. Students will pass from Room #1 to Room #2 fulfilling the required material in each of the three rooms.

H. During the audition process, the judges may not face the students.

I. Each judge will score all students on all elements applicable to the room in which s/he is judging. The judges scores, whenever possible, will be averaged to equal the student's final score. The Audition Chair will then check all score computations and match score sheets (with student I.D.#) with student names.

J. Any ties that occur will be broken based upon the student's improvisation score. In the case of a tie in the drums tryout, the total highest score in musicianship will be used to break the tie. If there is still a tie, the total score in feel will be used to break the tie (drum tie adopted 3/05).

K. Students will receive their score sheet to help verify that the calculations are correct.

L. A final ranking with scores will be made available at the conclusion of the auditions for the directors in attendance.

M. The Audition Chair will forward to the Host Director the final instrumentation list plus the required alternates.

N. Trombone/tuba judges must "recommend" or "not recommend" bass trombone and tuba students for participation in the festival. Trombone judges also must rank bass trombone and tuba students based upon overall proficiency. Rhythm section judges must "recommend" or "not recommend" guitarists, auxiliary percussionists, vibraphonists, and vocalists for participation in the festival. If a student is "not recommended" to participate in the festival, s/he will not be placed in one of the bands. If a student is recommended, s/he will be placed in one of the bands based upon the recommendation of the judges. Host directors and guest conductors are encouraged to have the auxiliary percussionist (if there is one) play drum set on one or two songs.

O. Whenever possible, the District Festival Host and Audition Chair will assign individual parts according to the following guidelines. Lead part assignment is crucial; every effort should be made to have strong lead players (and, if possible, solo chair players) in both bands. Only the lead trumpet parts should be doubled (i.e. no saxophone parts may be doubled).

P. A lead trombone and trumpet excerpt will be part of the audition process. The excerpt will be determined by the audition chairperson, audition host chairperson and the jazz committee. The excerpt will be posted on the District 7 website under the Jazz Audition materials page. (March, 2008)

Q. Students who will be performing the lead excerpt will indicate on the scorecard before their audition if they are interested in playing the lead chair in the B Band. (March, 2008)

R. At the conclusion of the auditions, the trumpet/trombone judges, chairperson, festival host and audition chairperson will discuss the placement of the lead players in each band. (March, 2008)

BAND A (in general, the highest ranking students) (The band must be referred to by the name of the guest director.): [top]

Band B (The band must be referred to by the name of the guest director.): [top]

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