All-East

All East is an annual ETVA (East Tennessee Vocal Association) event featuring performances by the All East TN Middle School, Freshmen, Men's, Women's, and SATB Choruses. On the weekend before Thanksgiving the students meet for two days of rehearsals with guest conductors and give a performance at the end of the weekend. Participation in an All East Chorus is competitive and is a source of great pride to students and their directors. Participation in an All East chorus is a prerequisite for a position in the Tennessee All State Chorus.

The 2007 All East will be held at Lee University, Cleveland, TN on November 15-17, 2007. The clinicians will be:

• SATB Chorus: Dr. Larry Edwards, University of Memphis
• Women's Chorus: LuAnne Holden, Lee University
• Men's Chorus: Dr. Jeff Brewer, Ridgeway HS, Memphis, TN
• Freshman Chorus: Kathy May, Greeneville HS, Greeneville, TN
• Middle School Chorus: TBA

Frequently Asked Questions

(Information taken from: www.etva.org)

Why are auditions held?
While we as Tennessee music educators believe that all students are capable of making music and have the right to education in music, we also believe that some students will excel and these students deserve greater challenges and rewards. The audition process allows the student to display excellence in choral music and provides them with a challenge to earn the reward of participation in All East and All State.

What is the purpose of a multi-step audition process?
The process of initial audition followed by screening audition allows ETVA to identify a pool of talented students in the initial audition and to determine by the subsequent screening audition that these students have put in the preparation necessary to achieve maximum advantage from the guest conductor, his/her rehearsals, and the final performance.

What is the process of earning a spot in the All East and/or All State choirs?

• A student must first meet the eligibility qualifications.
• If the student is eligible, the student’s choral director must then submit the appropriate forms and fees by the appropriate deadlines.
• Once the forms and fees are submitted, the student will be given a time for the first step of the process, the initial audition, and the student will be asked to prepare the audition materials.
• If the student scores well enough on the initial audition, they will be assigned a set of literature to prepare for one of the All East ensembles and a date by which the literature must be prepared.
• On the assigned date, the student must pass a screening audition to prove that the literature is prepared. After passing the screening audition, the student may participate in All East.
• After completing All East, students who scored high enough on the initial audition and who successfully completed All East will be given a set of literature to prepare for All State by a given date.
• On the date of the All State screening, the student must demonstrate preparation of the assigned All State literature.
• On successful completion of the All State screening, the student will be able to participate in All State.

What are the eligibility qualifications to begin the process?
The student must be in grades 10 – 12.

Female students must be willing to audition as Sopranos or Altos, i.e. female tenors are not allowed.

The student must be receiving at least a half-unit of credit in a regularly scheduled choral performance ensemble at the school where their permanent transcript is kept. (Note: If the student is homeschooled, you still must be a member of a regularly scheduled choral performance ensemble that has been approved by the ETVA Executive Board.)

The student’s choral director must be a member in good standing of the East TN Vocal Association (ETVA), TN Music Education Association (TMEA), and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC).

The student’s choral director must be willing to approve his/her participation in the auditions.

What are the required fees and forms?
For each student who auditions, a fee of $10.00 must be paid. to ETVA. In addition, each school must pay a $25.00 institutional fee.

Teachers/sponsors are responsible for registering their students online at www.etva.org. Notification and instructions will be posted on the ETVA website and an e-mail reminder will be sent to directors shortly after the school year begins. Once the registration window closes, the Executive Secretary will invoice the director at each participating school for the number of registered students.

How will I know my assigned audition time?
Within a few days of the registration deadline, a list of audition times will be posted on the ETVA website .

Who decides what time I will audition?
A computer assigns the times randomly as the registration forms are processed. These times are scrambled to ensure impartiality.

What are the initial audition materials?
The initial audition materials consist of three pieces selected by the Executive Board. They are drawn from the literature to be performed at All East by the SATB, Men’s, and Women’s choirs. The specific titles will be listed on the ETVA website. Each student will prepare his/her part on two of the three designated pieces, with all students preparing the SATB piece, all males preparing the Men’s piece, and all females preparing the Women’s piece.

How do I know which vocal part to prepare?
The student’s vocal part (Soprano 1 or 2, Alto 1 or 2, Tenor 1 or 2, Bass 1 or 2) must be declared in the registration process. Once registered, this part cannot be changed and will follow the student all the way to All State should he/she succeed that far. Therefore, the choral director should assist the student in deciding which vocal part to prepare.

Do I have to sing the same part as I sing in my school choir?
No. You should sing the part that best fits your individual voice.

If an audition piece is in a foreign language, do I have to sing the foreign text?
Yes, if the piece is going to be performed in that language at All East. Generally, the pieces will be performed in the language in which the composer set the text. If there is a question, contact a member of the ETVA Executive Board for clarification.

When is the initial audition?
The initial audition is always held on the first Saturday in October.

Where will auditions be held?
Auditions will be held in the middle area, (Knoxville area). The precise location is posted on the activities calendar on the ETVA website. Directions to the audition site will be distributed to the teachers, and may be posted on the website.

What is the time frame of the auditions?
The first auditions in each vocal part will occur at 9:00 AM. Teachers will be called to a meeting prior to the auditions. The time of this meeting will be set by the Executive Board and announced via the website online calendar and bulletins. The length of the day will depend on the number of students auditioning on a voice part. Generally all auditions are completed by around 4:00 PM.

How long is each audition?
Each student’s singing audition lasts for 3 minutes.

Could I be called earlier or later than my scheduled time?
Yes. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be precise on the times. Unforeseen circumstances could cause the auditions to run late or early. You may be called as early as an hour before your scheduled time. You may be called any time after your scheduled time.

How early should I arrive?
All students are required to be in the warm-up room from one hour before their audition time until they are called to audition. (Students whose audition times occur from 9:00 to 9:45 AM should be present in the warm-up room at 8:45 AM.)

What should I wear to the auditions?
The only regulations of dress code are that students may not wear anything that would indicate their school or their name to the judges. Previous All East or All State members may not wear All East or All State patches. You are not judged on personal appearance in the audition.

What will happen in the warm-up room?
In the warm-up room, the warm-up directors will play complete recordings of all three audition titles. These recordings will be made from the same source as that used to create the audition tracks used in the judging rooms, and there will be the same tempo, key and sound as those tracks. In the event of an emergency, the Executive Board may authorize the use of a recording in the warm-up room which comes from a different source. In such a case, the students will be notified in the warm-up room. All the students in the room will be allowed to sing along with the accompaniment. Runners will come into the room and call for up to ten students at a time from each voice part to go to the waiting area outside the judging room. Also, the warm-up room directors will go over the specific instructions for each section’s audition passages, including what you will hear to get your pitch and to set the tempo.

What will happen while I wait for my turn outside the audition room?
The runners will confirm your ID number (which is not necessary for you to know) and record it on your judges’ score sheets. If you have any questions about where you start and stop on each piece, you should make sure it is clear before you enter the audition room.

What will happen in the audition itself?
You will be escorted into the audition room by one of the runners. There may be a music stand for you to use if you wish. The head judge or the CD operator should greet you, and let you know when the judges are ready to hear you sing. The CD operator will start the music and the head judge will conduct your first entrance on each piece. The judge will NOT conduct the entire audition section, only the very first vocal entrance of your part. You will sing sections from both pieces, and after finishing; the head judge, CD operator, or the runner will dismiss you.

What if I make a mistake or fail to start in the right place?
If you make a mistake you should go on as quickly as possible. If you miss an entrance, you should start singing as soon as you realize where you are in the music. If you realize you are ahead or behind the CD, listen briefly and resume singing correctly as soon as possible. Everyone makes mistakes, and no one will sing a perfect audition. Don’t let your mistakes throw you – keep singing!

What happens if I am sick on the initial audition date?
It is an unfortunate fact of life that singers are often sick in the fall. However, the audition process is so complex and requires so many participants that it is not practical to have a make up session. If you are sick on the audition date, we suggest you go ahead and audition if you are physically capable of singing an audition. We do not offer any make up auditions or special exemptions.

What happens if I miss my audition?
If a student misses the call for their audition, they may be allowed to do their audition at the end of the day depending on the reason they missed the original audition. The Executive Board will discuss each case and determine which reasons are acceptable. Those that are accepted will be allowed to audition at the end of the day.

How will I be judged in the audition?
When you enter the audition room there will be five judges in the room. Each of these judges will be scoring your audition but only three of the five sets of scores will actually count. You are judged in six categories, which are weighted in value. These are:

• Pitch (24%)
• Tone (21%)
• Rhythm (19%)
• Technical Accuracy (13%)
• Diction (12%)
• Musicality (11%)

That means the judge may award you up to 24 points for pitch, 21 points for tone etc. The total points for each category are added together to make one judge’s score. The scores of the judge giving you the highest score and the judge giving you the lowest score are thrown out. The total of the three remaining judges are added to make up your total audition score. A perfect score would be 300 points.

Why are the highest and lowest scores thrown out?
We eliminate the highest and lowest judges’ scores to avoid favoritism or discrimination. A judge that knows you may score you very high or very low, regardless of how you actually performed in your audition. Alternately, a particular judge may be grading every one much higher or lower than other judges in the same room. By removing the top and bottom scores, you are more likely to have an accurate rating of your audition.

Do the judges make any comments about my audition?
There is space on the audition sheet for judges to make comments. We encourage the judges to comment on your performance, but they may or may not do so at their discretion.

Will I find out my scores right after my audition?
No, we generally judge between 600 – 700 students on a typical audition day. With five judges’ sheets per student, that is a total of between 3000 to 3500 sheets to run through the scanner. Also once the scores are calculated the Executive Board has to look over the results and decide where to draw the cut-off lines for each voice part. Generally, the results will not be available until later in the next week.

How will I find out my score?
This depends on your individual teacher. Once the Executive Board is through with the score sheets, each director is sent the actual judges’ sheets for each of their auditioning students along with a printout explaining the scores. Individual teachers may return your judges’ sheets to you at their own discretion.

Will my scores be posted publicly?
It is ETVA policy to NOT publicize the entire election results. We do not want the students who have become eligible for All State to know for certain until after All East and we do not want to embarrass students who did not do well on their audition. Therefore, after auditions, a list of the students who have become eligible for All East will be published on the ETVA website. Once All East is over, those students who are eligible for All State will have their names and their scores published on the website.

How high do I have to score to make All East?
This varies from year to year and section to section. It is further complicated by the fact that the number of All East choir members is not fixed, but may vary greatly from year to year. The Executive Board looks at the full sets of election results and uses a statistical formula called a Z-score to determine how the different sections’ scores compare to each other. This allows the Board to determine the cut-off scores for each section and to decide how many singers will be assigned to each part. Once the cutoff scores are determined, the students are randomly assigned to one of the three choirs.

What does it mean if I am an Alternate for a choir?
If you are described as an alternate, it means that you did not score well enough to be eligible for a particular choir. However, you did score well enough to become a substitute for another choir member who cannot attend All East or All State. You will be given the option of preparing the music and going through the next level of the auditions, the screening audition. The alternates will be assigned in numerical order as openings occur in an All East choir. You could be called up to 24 hours before the first All East rehearsal occurs.

If my name is listed on the website without an Alternate designation, does that mean I am in All East?
No, you still must pass the next level of the auditions, the screening audition, before you are “in” All East for certain.

How high do I need to score to make All State?
The All State students will be taken from the top scores in each section. The number of students per section that will get to go to All State varies from year to year based on the average number of schools that participate in our auditions over a three-year period. Also, before you are “in” All State you must first complete All East and one additional screening audition on the All State music.

© Copyright 2007 Shaylee Smith