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Question: What to expect during NYSSMA!?
I am participating in NYSSMA next weekend (5/31)!. It is my first time and don't know what to expect!. I am going level 6 for voice!. I have a vocal coach!. I am SO nervous for it and I know I shouldn't be, but I do have my doubts!.

I've been doing my piece since late August and know it like the back of my hand!. There are parts in which I have mentally ingrained to mess up on!. also, I'm going at 9:00am, which is the worst possible time for me to sing!.

Anyone who has participated in NYSSMA festivals!.!. advice is HIGHLY appreciated!!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I am a NYSSMA judge - and I am judging that weekend! But I am doing an all-piano festival this time, even though I also judge voice and woodwinds!.

To do a Level 6 for your first time IS exciting - no wonder you have questions! I would assume that you are at LEAST in 9th or 10th grade!. The standards are inflexible - we cannot grade anyone *easier* if they are attempting a difficult grade, and are still in middle school, let's say!. So - *stunning* for middle school might be considered just acceptable for HS - do you understand!? If you ARE in HS, then fine - just checking!.

Your assessment time is 15 minutes!. You will have a little bit of time to *try the room* as the judge is possibly still writing the narrative portion for the previous student!. They welcome you, and tell you to *try the room*, etc!. After a minute or so (they are done writing), they ask you to begin - and you sing your solo!. We are told to be VERY neutral in our verbal comments, and let the sheet say it all - so do not get disappointed if the judge just says *thank you* and then moves on to your next section!. That would be sight-reading!. The rubrics are all in the front of the Manual, and I am sure that you and your teacher have worked a LOT on this important skill!. You will be shown which example is yours!. The judge will give you a tempo (it is indicated) and a starting note, suitable for your vocal range (all SR example can be sung in any key, to fit the range of the singer)!. You will be given at least a minute to look it over!. At that time, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check the meter signature, and go through the COUNTING first - tap your foot, tap you hand on your leg - ANYTHING!!! They all start on DO and end on DO!. PLEASE use a system - most people use movable Do (solfefe) but numbers, and pitch-referenced fixed DO also come through the doors from time to time!. If you use NO system (sing on LA!?!?) then your chances of getting LOST go up! You will have arpeggiated skips, and steps!. and several rhythms - all in the rubrics ( I will not list them all here - your teacher knows them!.) You also have seen a NYSSMA scoring sheet, so you know th categories in which you receive points, and those that get a plus or minus to support those points!.

If this Level 6 solo is also an All-State solo, then you are in a room with ONLY as candidates singing!. You solo must come from the special lists voice of the 8 subdivided vocal parts (S1, S2, A1, A2, etc!.)The judge must make a ranked list at the end of the day, and determine if you are being recommended for AS!. If your score is NOT high enough for AS (more than likely a 99 or 100), then you can still make Area AS, since 3 points are added to the score of an AS candidate when the grades are sent to Area committee!.

If you edit your question and add more info (and what is the name of your solo!?!?) then perhaps I can help some more!. Good luck - you wll be fine!Www@QuestionHome@Com

I know nothing about NYSSMA, specifically, but these solo festivals seem to all be basically the same: you do the solo(s) you've prepared, they ask you to sight-read some stuff, and then show you the door!. (instrumentalists usually have scales, too, but I don't know if there's an equivalent part of the contest for singers)

It's great that you know your solo so well -- rely on that confidence to get you through the contest!. These things are unnecessarily stressful, but by no fault of the judges, or of the students involved!. Just try to stay as relaxed as you can!. 9:00am is an awful time to sing -- my advice (as a NON professional singer!.!.!.hopefully some others will chime in!) would be to try to get a VERY good night's sleep the night before, or even a couple nights before!. If you can make yourself go to bed/get up an hour or two earlier than usual, then maybe you can trick your body into thinking it's really later!. Get a good, relaxed warm up in before you leave your house!.

Don't get stressed out by the lack of comments from your judges!. Having judged similar festivals (in other states than NY), I can tell you that these judges are generally not supposed to give you much/any feedback while you're in the room!. Time constraints are the name of the game here -- if you've got 10 minutes to get in and out of the room, they're going to move the process along quickly!. Don't mistake the judges' desire to move along quickly with rudeness!. There's a good possibility that you might not get to perform your entire piece (again, maybe NYSSMA allows enough time for this!?)!. Make sure you are able to start at the beginning of any phrase in the music and be equally comfortable as you would be starting at the beginning!. The logic is that the judges can hear you sing 45 seconds of a piece and be able to know how you would have sung the remaining amount of time!.!.!. So you don't want to get off to a rocky start just because they asked you to start on page 3!.

I'm assuming your vocal coach has been working with you on sight-reading since August, too, right!? Please say you haven't just spent the last 9 months learning one song!. (that's the major downfall of a lot of these solo festivals, as I see it -- too much emphasis on a single piece!. NYSSMA may be better organized than others, I don't know!.!.!.)

Good luck!! Remember that the point of these things is for you to share music with judges who (hopefully) are the top educators in the area, and to get feedback from them!. You WILL learn something in this process, and you will be a better musician for it, regardless of how well your performance goes!. At the very least, you will learn what it feels like to sing in one of these kind of contests (which will help you in auditions in the future!.!.!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com