All State

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 9:22pm

Has anyone here ever done All State (NYSSMA or any other state competitions.) What's it like (auditions and everything)? I'm doing it in a month and I'm so nervous! Can someone give me advice on my performance? I'm doing Tu Lo Sai (an Italian soprano song).

[billygoatgirl300]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 9:58pm

I haven't done it but I know alot of kids who have. My music teacher tells us everything they do. They will do some scales and you will sing your song. You will get a overall score and there is a number you have to meet to get in to All State. But thats how they did ours last year so they could have changed it or it could be different in your state.

Mass just had their All State concert two weeks ago and my school had like four or five students go and sing. Don't get nervous because it will show and it might effect the outcome of you audition.

Good luck and tell us how it goes!

Updated On: 3/29/05 at 09:58 PM

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 10:52pm

all state is sooooooooo mega fun!!

okay, here's my #1 tip for you - when you go to auditions, don't get freaked out by the other girls who are going to be singing. they'll all be standing around the warm-up piano singing as loud and as high as they can trying to show off. this does NOT matter. seriously. even if they sound like they're 35 and warming up to go onstage at the met - this does NOT matter. at my new englands audition (much like all state, only for all of new england), my judge was happy to hear that i had an age-appropriate voice; aka i wasn't trying to sound older than i am.

tip #2 - do NOT look the adjudicator in the eye. it's just weird and they usually don't like it.

tip #3 - i ALWAYS forget about my posture, but it's the first thing they see!! make sure you stand up straight, smile, and remember that your audition starts as SOON as you walk in the room. be friendly, introduce yourself, give a brief introduction of your song ("i will be performing 'tu lo sai' by..."). you don't need to give a translation because they will already know it.

after your performance, expect criticism from your adjudicator. some judges do, some don't. in general, they are VERRRRRRRRRRY nice about this...but do be prepared for it. i have seen girls come out crying saying that they didn't know they would be given criticism. don't do that. there's no need to cry, i can guarantee they have seen much worse. and probably some better. but a LOT worse!!

after a few weeks, your choral director will recieve your audition form back with your score and comments. there will be a state-wide cutoff score for sopranos (for us it's usually about 100-110/115). the soprano cutoff will ALWAYS be higher than all the other voices - that's just the way it is. whether you get in or not, look at their comments seriously - most of the time they are very constructive and articulate.

good luck, i hope you get in!!!!!!!!!!!

maggie

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 5:26am

Wow. This just brought back so many memories. I did All-State through out middle school and high school. The best time I ever had, was the year Moses Hogan directed the mixed high school ensemble. Wow, he was a brilliant man.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 12:37pm

Hahaha, NYSSMA memories. I certainly don't have a voice, but I auditioned in clarinet my last two years. I made area all-state, not all-state, oh well. The fact that sopranos get higher voices is probably akin to flute being the hardest instrument to get into anything--a couple years in all-county and area all-state I had friends who were flutists who got a higher score than me not make it but I did. At least one of my best friends got area all-state last year.

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 2:58pm

Wickedrent: I played clarinet in the 70's with NYSSMA. I miss those days. My school had the highest grades in both bad and choral. The best advice I can offer is.......sit back and enjoy the experience. When you lighten up , your creativity and love of music will show. Good luck!

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 3:03pm

In Pennsylvania, you had to make it through Districts and Regionals first...All State qualification was based on your chair rank in Regionals, which was, of course, based on your chair rank in Districts.

It sucked, though...they had ALL the festivals (Band, orch, choir) on the same weekend, so you had to pick one if you qualified for more than one, and I qualified for all three every year. O, the heartache! O, the misery! O, the chance to share a hotel room with strange high school music boys!

[kangaroo]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 7:50pm

My #1 tip for you:
Don't get psyched out by the girls who will be singing outside in the halls trying to prove that they are the best

AND RELAX

I do admit, it was nerve-wracking for me, and I honestly didn't think that I would make it... but I only got as far as districts, but my sister is 1ST CHAIR GOING INTO STATE CHORUS! [BTW, I don't live in NY]

[kangaroo]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 7:51pm

sorry... double post

Updated On: 3/31/05 at 07:51 PM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 10:54pm

Weird how different things can be for different aspects of music. I actually found that being nervous helped me play better. For some reason, it made me back off some notes a bit which made me more in tune and gave me a better tone. So I went and out always thinking I did much worse than I eventually did. Oh, one more thing about NYSSMA as far as I know: someone mentioned you don't get your scores for awhile...at least for me, I always stuck around and got my score within a couple hours, sometimes 1/2, sometimes 3. Then again, you don't find out what you've made it into for months, maybe that's it.

[centerstage]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 11:04pm

Wow, all of this helped so much. I too am auditioning for NY All-State, and I am already nervous. If I miss a day of practice (that includes just picking up my viola and scratching out the terrible cord section over and over) I flip out, but I feel like this has helped me too. I didnt have any idea what to expect. Thanks so much for pointing out the thing about criticism too, because I come out crying if I mess up the smallest thing. That would so put me over the edge if I didn;t know.

Is it true that the All State judges are way way harder on you than the level 5/6 judges?

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 11:35pm

you guys have chairs in chorus? that's so weird!! we never know ANYONE else's scores.

excpet apparently they're going to announce it when they give me my scholarship check..which is just weird. why does it matter what my score was?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 8:41am

Yes, at least for NYSSMA, the all-state judges tend to be harder on you than normal level 6. I don't know how it quite works for viola, but for clarinet, I had to have an accompanist for all-state, not for level 6. I think they're still pretty on for accuracy, but I think they're harder in the tune/tone/posture parts of the score. One year in area all-state and all-county I think to equivelate all-state and level 6's they added 3 points to all-state scores which made it comprable with a level 6 score, so I guess on average an all-state score may be 3 points lower. Hope that helps, and don't worry so much! I was always tough on myself after getting out, and always did better than I thought. And my first couple of years, I cried the night before b/c I thought I was horrible, just don't get down on yourself--and have confidence!

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 3:43pm

Thanks everyone! I'm so nervous!

[Kevo711]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 6:06pm

yay i recently finished all county and it was soo fun! and today i just got my NYSSMA solo today- On the street where you live (My Fair Lady) SOO EXCITED

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 6:22pm

That's so great! Less than a month until my audition and I haven't had a voice lesson in a month. Also, I'm only having two between now and NYSSMA.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 6:22pm

That's so great! Less than a month until my audition and I haven't had a voice lesson in a month. Also, I'm only having two between now and NYSSMA.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 6:26pm

i'm done NYSSMA before. My first time was last year and i got a perfect score. I sang Tu Lo Sai as well. (good song girl!) Basically just try to get into the song, practice the words as much as you can, make eye contact, practice sight reading, think about posture, and breathing, and most of all RELAX AND HAVE FUN!!!

break a leg!

[stonewall2]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 7:00pm

My daughter has done these with her flute and now for voice. You have been getting excellent advice, but I would like to add several things:
Dress well- I have seen everything from overalls to oufits that looked like they belonged in the chorus of "Sweet Charity". Something tasteful and age appropriate for you. I have gone a few rounds with my daughter on this one, but she has gotten many "thank you for dressing respectfully" comments on her score sheets.
Site Reading is Important!
Remember to thank all the people that are working there, not just your judge, and tossing in an few "sirs" and "ma'ams" will go a long way!
Good luck and Have Fun!

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/11/05 at 7:49pm

Thanks everyone! I'm nervous, but I just had a major vocal performance yesterday so I'm not as nervous, even though it had nothing to do with NYSSMA. I performed for 1200 people, so I'll probably do better in front of fewer.