Do you have questions about NYSSMA? Are you a new teacher who wants to send students to NYSSMA and are not sure about the process, or are you a veteran teacher who has never sent students but you now want to?
Zone Rep Kimberly Dunkin will be hosting an informational Zoom session on Monday 1/29 at 7 pm to answer any and all of the questions you may have, including, but not limited to:
  • The NYSSMA manual
  • All-State application and/or selection process
  • Requirements for scales or solo
  • General rules and regulations
  • Sightreading
  • Becoming an adjudicator
  • Anything else you want to ask!
Please feel free to share this with new teachers (or new-to-NY teachers) in your district! If interested in attending this session, please fill out the Google Form below:
Kim

Dear colleagues,

Please note the following dates for Area All-State, solo, and majors festivals. Details about registration will be sent later in the school year from your festival hosts, listed below. Not sure which festival to register for? Click here for the list of Up-County and Down-County districts. 

Strings I-IV Festival (including ALL levels guitar and harp)

No piano. No jazz.

April 12-13

Blind Brook High School

Don Whitman, host

nyssma@blindbrook.org

Registration on Da Capo: 1/21-3/1

Up-County Festival (including vocal/instrumental jazz)

No Strings I-IV. No piano. No guitar. No harp.

April 26-27

Horace Greeley High School (Chappaqua)

Kathleen Feldman, host

nyssma.chappaquaschools@gmail.com

Registration on Da Capo: 1/26-3/8

Down-County Festival (including vocal/instrumental jazz)

No piano. No Strings I-IV. No Guitar. No Harp

May 3-4

Pelham High School

Andrew Von Bochove, Host

avanbochove@pelhamschools.org

Registration on Da Capo: 2/2-3/15

Piano-Only Festival

May 31-June 1

Ardsley High School

Susan Lee-Chong & Lisa DeFrenza, co-hosts

nyssma@yorktown.org

Registration on Da Capo: 3/22-4/26

NYSSMA Majors Festival

May 28-30

Walter Panas High School

Jamie Stroffolino, host

nyssmamajors@lakelandschools.org

Registration on the NYSSMA website begins the first week in January.

After last year’s festivals, I made note of the most common mistakes we encountered. Please double and triple-check the NYSSMA manual fine print and your student registration information on Da Capo. Some common mistakes from last year:

  • All-State Applications MUST be filled out 6 weeks prior to the festival date. This must be done on the NYSSMA website: All-State Application. Students who do NOT have an accompanying All-State application will automatically be lowered to a regular Level 6 and are no longer eligible for All-State ensembles. 

  • Jazz students must be registered in Da Capo as a jazz solo. These students must be placed in a jazz room and we must order a jazz scoresheet for them. They are heard by a jazz adjudicator. For example, please do not register a jazz trumpet player as “Brass solo” – this will automatically place them in a regular (non-jazz) brass room with a non-jazz adjudicator and a non-jazz scoresheet. Please select “Jazz solo” from the dropdown menu so that your student is scheduled in the correct room and with the correct form, otherwise, we have to scramble the day of their solo so make sure we have room in the adjudicator’s schedule AND that we have an extra jazz scoresheet. 

  • You may not register a student for a festival that they are not zoned for without permission of BOTH festival hosts and myself, the Zone Representative. Please book field trips and schedule school musicals around the festival dates so we can limit the amount of variances to other festivals. This is a very time-consuming process that, in some cases, must be approved by people in the NYSSMA office and most can be avoided with careful planning.

  • Please make sure that you have the current NYSSMA Manual (ed. 33 with GREEN tabs) that went into effect July 1, 2022. You can order a new one here.

  • Students must have ORIGINALS of their sheet music. Students who bring photocopies will not be permitted to perform. One original is necessary, two is preferred so the adjudicator has their own. If purchasing a digital download, please bring an email receipt as proof of purchase.

Kimberly Dunkin
NYSSMA Zone 11 Representative
zone11@nyssma.org

Levels 1-4 Levels 5 – 6 All-State
Solo & Ensemble $16 $24 $30
Piano $22 $30 N/A

Click here for the Zone 11 NYSSMA Page