- Directors must be current members of PMEA.
- Students must participate in their own school band in order to audition for District Band, their own school orchestra in order to audition for District Orchestra, and their own school chorus in order to audition for District Chorus. If one of those organizations is not offered at the student’s school, another PMEA music director from their high school may sponsor them so they can audition for the ensemble with the understanding that the sponsoring director will attend and take part in all required auditions.
- Directors must be present at the auditions and serve on an audition committee if they have an auditioning student.
- An audition fee will be collected for each student auditioning for District Band, Chorus, or Orchestra.
- It is the director’s responsibility to post the audition selection list, with the appropriate editions, and inform students of all aspects of the audition, and requirements of participation in the festival(s), as well as listening to students, and assessing whether they are prepared for the audition.
- If three or more students from a school audition, but none of them are selected, the school may send one student as its representative member to the festival, at the discretion of the district president. The student will be chosen based on their numerical placement, and balance considerations for the ensemble. The placement of the student into the ensemble will be overseen by the district president. Students placed into the ensemble as a representative member must re-audition for placement at the festival but are not eligible to go on to the region level.
Choral Policies
1. Each high school may send no more than 20 students to the fall audition: 4 sopranos, 4 altos, 4 tenors, 4 basses, 2 accompanists. Schools may choose to have two additional auditionees if they are audition on tenor or bass only.
2. Sopranos, altos, and basses must be in grades 10, 11, or 12. Because of the shortage of tenors, 9th grade tenors may audition. If chosen, 9th grade tenors must re-audition for placement at the festival, but are not eligible to go on to the Region level.
3. Each voice part will be split into two (Alto I, Alto II, etc). Students must choose which voice part they audition on at the time of the audition. This voice part will hold true for the duration of the student’s experience in the festival process.
4. It is recommended that teachers make every effort to teach correct pronunciation of foreign language texts to their auditioning students.
Instrumental Policies
1. All auditioning students must be in grades 10, 11, or 12.
2. Any student who is auditioning for the District Orchestra on string bass is also eligible to audition for District Band at the discretion of their orchestra director. This is the only exception to the above policy on ensemble membership.