Tri-State Band Festival

PREVIOUS REGISTRATION PRICES FOR THE 2023 TRI-STATE FESTIVAL

• $395.00 for overnight students
• $295.00 for local/commuter students

PARTICIPATION COST COVERS

• Lodging (For overnight students only)
• All meals during the Tri-State timeline,
• Transportation to and from rehearsals and concerts, instructional expenses including masterclass, rehearsals, and performance, t-shirt, and recording of concerts.

Students selected for the Tri-State Festival must provide their own transportation to and from Tallahassee.

Students will be chaperoned at all times by FSU faculty, graduate assistants, and staff. 

If you are a high school band director in the state of Florida, Georgia, or Alabama, please click the link below to nominate your students to the 2023 Tri-State Band Festival. The following conditions must be met:

• Only directors may nominate a student.
• Nominations must come from a school email address. Submissions from personal accounts will not be considered.
• Students must be in 11th or 12th grade to participate.
• Please complete a separate nomination for each student.
• Nominations are due no later than Friday, September 29th.

When nominating more than one student, you must “rank” them by order, and do not duplicate numbers. For instance, when nominating five students, rank them on the nomination form in the order for which you would like them to be considered, such that the “top” student is number 1, next is number 2, etc. If a rank is duplicated, such as nominating more than one student as number “1” for your school, it will cause problems with the software that we use to organize the information for this event. In the past such problems have resulted in students being left out of the festival. Please be aware of this when nominating students so that we can avoid any mistakes.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent mid-October. If accepted, both director and students will need to complete two steps to register:

1. Complete the online registration form (a “registration” link will be added to the page at that time).
2. Mail in payment (by school or individually.)

Students are not officially registered until the registration is completed on the website and their payment has been received.

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR STUDENTS

The Honors Jazz Ensemble provides a unique opportunity for students seeking to develop their jazz performance skills while working with renowned jazz artists and the FSU jazz faculty. Experiences will include multiple performance opportunities, including the Honors Jazz Ensemble Festival Finale Concert held Saturday night where members take the stage to perform for directors, family, friends, and all Tri-State Band Festival participants.

If you are a high school jazz band director in the state of Florida, Georgia, or Alabama, please click the link below to nominate your students to the 2023 Tri-State Honors Jazz Ensemble. The following conditions must be met:

• Only directors may nominate a student.
• Nominations must come from a school email address. Submissions from personal accounts will not be considered.
• Students must be in 11th or 12th grade to participate.
• Please complete a separate nomination for each student.
• Nominations are due no later than Friday, September 29th.

When nominating more than one student, you must “rank” them by order, and do not duplicate numbers. For instance, when nominating five students, rank them on the nomination form in the order for which you would like them to be considered, such that the “top” student is number 1, next is number 2, etc. If a rank is duplicated, such as nominating more than one student as number “1” for your school, it will cause problems with the software that we use to organize the information for this event. In the past such problems have resulted in students being left out of the festival. Please be aware of this when nominating students so that we can avoid any mistakes.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent mid-October. If accepted, both director and students will need to complete two steps to register:

1. Complete the online registration form (a “registration” link will be added here at that time).
2. Mail in payment (by school or individually.)

Students are not officially registered until the registration is completed on the website and their payment has been received.

Honors Jazz Ensemble audition recordings are due by Friday, September 29^th.  These auditions should be both audio and video recorded and posted as an unlisted YouTube video.  Please send the link to this video to CM-TriStateFestival@fsu.edu.

Audition excerpts can be found under the student audition section.

Students interested in the Honors Jazz Ensemble may also be nominated for the concert band festival. However, if selected, these students must perform with the jazz ensemble in order to allow another concert band member the opportunity to attend the Tri-State Festival. Visit the Tri- State Festival website for audition requirements and other pertinent information.

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR STUDENTS

The Directors Conference provides high school directors with a continuing education opportunity through sessions presented by our esteemed FSU faculty complete with a conducting clinic. Registered directors receive one complimentary ticket to Friday night’s Prism concert, and a certificate of completion for professional development credit.

The Conducting Clinic is a component of the Directors Conference led by Dr. Rodney Dorsey. To be considered for participation, send the following criteria to cm-tristatefestival@fsu.edu by October 25th.

• 2-minute or less conducting demonstration video (optional but highly encouraged)
  • Submit as an unlisted YouTube file.
• Conducting Bio (<500 words)
  • Include your current school
  • How long you have been teaching
  • Your conducting educational background (including institutions)

Selected participants may choose from one of the following pieces to conduct during the clinic:

• Three Ayres from Gloucester – Hugh Stuart
• Lincolnshire Posy 1,2, & 5 – Percy Grainger, Fennell Ed.
• First in Eb – Gustav Holst, Matthews ed.
• Yorkshire Ballad – James Barnes

Participants will be selected and contacted in early November.

• 2023 Conference Brochure
• 2023 Letter to Administration

Acceptance into one of the Tri-State Concert Bands is a once in a lifetime experience for high school band students throughout Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Students accepted to the Tri-State Band Conference will participate in one of three superb concert bands, conducted by a nationally renowned collegiate wind band director. Students will engage in three days of exciting rehearsals and will attend concerts designed to expose them to diverse and thrilling wind band literature. On the final day of the conference, students will present a concert to highlight their hard work.

11th and 12th grade students who would like to attend Tri-State should make sure that their high school band directors nominate them by September 29th!

Talk to your band director to be nominated for the Tri-State Band. Band Directors must submit all their nominees by September. 29th.

The Honors Jazz Ensemble provides a unique opportunity for students seeking to develop their jazz performance skills and work with renowned jazz artists and FSU jazz faculty. Participants are selected from recorded auditions that you submit through your high school band director. The Honors Jazz Ensemble experience will feature multiple performance opportunities, as members take the stage on Saturday night to perform for directors, family, friends, and all Tri-State Band Festival participants.

Auditions must be a video recording of the content for each instrument as indicated below.

The nomination along with the audition of each student is due by September 29th, 2023. Band Directors need to submit the audition to CM-TriStateFestival@fsu.edu with an attached link to an Unlisted YouTube Video. (Google Drive, and Drop Box are not supported.)

THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS WERE UPDATED ON 8/16/2023

SAXOPHONE

• Students should play the audition music: DOWNLOAD HERE

TRUMPET

• Students should prepare the jazz trumpet chart, entitled “Hot House.” Excerpt should be played at quarter note = 170. Students should play the melody down one time and then take a solo for one chorus over the chord changes, then play the melody down one more time.
• Students should play the audition music: DOWNLOAD HERE

TROMBONE

• Students should play the audition music: DOWNLOAD HERE

BASS

• Students should play the audition music: DOWNLOAD HERE
• The bass players will also play: Two Octave F Major, Bb Major, G Natural Minor and D Natural Minor scales. Please play all scales at the following tempo: The Quarter Note Equals 120. Students may use iReal Book or some other accompaniment app although we would prefer to hear a band of humans playing together.

GUITAR

• Perform the piece “Oleo” by Sonny Rollins – DOWNLOAD HERE
• Please play “Oleo” at the following tempo: The Half Note Equals 104
• Please play the melody as is on the A sections and improvise on the B sections (Bridge)
• Take a two-chorus solo and play the melody out to end the piece.
• Guitar players will also play the following scales:
  • Bb Major two octaves
  • G Major two octaves
  • Bb Bebop scale
  • F Bebop scale

PIANO

• Students should play the audition music: DOWNLOAD HERE. Play the melody in the right hand with the chords in the left hand, followed by an improvised solo for 1 chorus.

DRUMS

• Play the prepared piece with the following guidelines:
  • DOWNLOAD HERE
  • Play the written figures with the left hand (or comping hand, whichever one) while playing swing (jazz) time on the ride cymbal, 2&4 hi-hat, and feathering time on bass drum at the tempo marking.
  • Play the figures as if you are orchestrating ensemble hits in a big band (you can mix comping some patterns and setting up some rhythm hits).
• Other audition requirements:
  • Play swing at quarter = 60, 90, 180, 240 (for 1 minute each).  During the swing at 180, trade fours with yourself.
  • Play a Bossa Nova Groove for 30 seconds (whatever tempo)
  • Play a Samba Groove for 30 seconds (whatever tempo)
  • Play a funk groove for 30 seconds (whatever tempo)
  • Play a rock groove for 30 seconds (whatever tempo)
  • Play an Afro-Cuban (12/8) groove for 30 seconds (any tempo)
  • Play a Mambo Groove for 30 seconds (any tempo)
  • Demonstrate your ability to play these rudiments: 5-stroke roll (slow to fast to slow), Flam Paradiddles (slow, fast, slow), Double Ratamacues (slow, fast, slow)

Once notified of your acceptance to Tri-State, students should complete their online registration immediately. The Student Release Form, as well as your registration fee for Tri-State, must be received at FSU no later than the above due date.

CLICK HERE FOR STUDENT REGISTRATION

Failure to complete any portion of registration (online registration, Student Release Form, and payment) by the above due date will result in the loss of your spot in the Tri-State Festival.