Requirement and format
To qualify for 2025 festival participation, a school is highly encouraged to attend the festival’s preceding fall workshop. Directors are encouraged to bring an SSAATTBB octet of their very best students (maximum of eight) to the workshop. Directors and their students will sit by section in assigned seats. No one can leave the session except at the scheduled break, and schools are highly encouraged to remain for both sessions. The workshop schedule is:
9 a.m.—Registration
9:30 to 11 a.m.—First session
11 to 11:30 a.m.—Break with snacks
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.—Second session
Objectives
All directors and their student octets will form a workshop chorus. The guest conductor will be asked to lead this chorus through each music selection giving rehearsal and performance suggestions during the reading. Details of breathing, pronunciation, tempi, dynamics, phrasing, accents, etc., will be given in order to unify the ultimate preparation of each piece in the participating schools. Pronunciation of non-English texts will be given special attention. Directors should mark their scores according to the guest conductor’s instruction.
Music
Directors attending the fall workshop must bring their own copies of all musical selections.
Thorough preparation
Workshop activities are intended to foster thorough preparation of all festival music and all festival participants. This is necessary in order to sustain the festival’s excellent reputation. Thorough preparation becomes the responsibility of each director and a reflection on their work as a professional.