Adjudicated Performance Assessments:

1 District Performance Assessments are offered in the spring in each district and in the fall in some districts, and serve as a preliminary qualification for State Performance Assessment. All choirs perform from memory two repertoire selections in a public performance for three judges and sight-read for one judge in a closed setting.

2 State Performance Assessment is offered in April for each choir receiving an overall Superior rating at District Performance Assessment (either fall or spring). All choirs perform from memory two repertoire selections in a public performance for three judges and sight-read for one judge in a closed setting.

3 Solo/Ensemble Festival is offered in each district using state adjudication standards. An ensemble consists of 2-16 singers. Soloists and ensembles perform unconducted, from memory, two selections for one judge in a closed setting. There is no sight-reading at Solo/Ensemble.

All-State Venues:

4 All-State Festival is an opportunity for students with outstanding ability and initiative to receive public recognition, work with outstanding choral clinicians, and perform choral literature of the highest quality. Auditions for All-State Festival are held in each district in October. Students audition on the All-State music for their choir and the state song, Alabama. All-State Festival is a three-day event held in March that culminates in a professionally recorded concert. The five All-State choirs are:

• High School SATB: selected by audition from grades 10-12
• High School SSA: selected by audition from grades 9-12 (females only)
• High School TTBB: selected by audition from grades 9-12 (males only)
• Middle School Mixed: selected by audition from boys grades 7-8 and girls grade 8
• Middle School Girls: selected by audition from girls grades 7-8

5 The Alabama All-State Show Choir (ASSC) is a highly selective group of 60 students (30 male, 30 female) who are chosen after undergoing a vocal audition on the current year's ASSC music selections as well as a dance audition. The dance routine will be taught at the audition site. Students enrolled in their school choir program in grades 10-12 may audition for ASSC, and are not required to be a member of a school show choir. The All-State Show Choir rehearses and performs during the January AMEA Convention. The All-State Show Choir performs the show again at the All-State Choral Festival in March. Students selected for ASSC are encouraged but not required to audition for All-State Choir.

6 Honor Choir is a venue at the AMEA Conference during even-numbered years (i.e., January 2008, 2010, etc.). Choral directors choose one or two quartets (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) from their best students in grades 10-12. Starting in 2008, candidates will audition on the Honor Choir music and, if selected for Honor Choir, rehearse and perform during the AMEA Conference.

Student Scholarship, Recognition, and Career Opportunities

7 Outstanding Choral Student auditions are held to select a male and a female winner from each district, who then compete at the state level to be selected as Outstanding Male or Outstanding Female Choral Student. All candidates prepare a resume and a vocal solo, and are interviewed after performing. District and State OCS winners are honored at the All-State Concert.

8 Outstanding Accompanist auditions are held to recognize those students who contribute significantly to the choral programs of the state by demonstrating outstanding choral accompanying. Candidates must be able to play the accompaniments and vocal parts for the music of an All-State choir and must demonstrate the ability to follow a director. A state winner will be chosen for each All-State choir (for which there is a qualified auditionee). District and State OA winners are honored at the All-State Concert.

9 An AVA Music Education Scholarship is awarded to one senior each year planning to major in Music Education. District winners are chosen on the basis of a resume and an interview, and the state winner is chosen during the All-State Festival from this pool.

10 FAME (Future Alabama Music Educators) is a one-day seminar, sponsored by AMEA, and held in conjunction with the January AMEA Inservice Conference. This seminar is for 11th and 12th grade high school students who have an interest in pursuing a music education career to meet and interact with current music educators.

Teacher In-Service and Recognition Opportunities:

11 Fall Workshop, held each in September on the Friday and Saturday after Labor Day, is a two-day workshop for choral teachers that features sessions with choral clinicians, a read-through of the All-State music, performances by selected choirs, an AVA membership meeting, and more.

12 AMEA Conference in January is a three-day conference for all of Alabama's music educators in the band, choral, orchestral, and elementary divisions. Events for choral directors include open All-State Show Choir and Honor Choir rehearsals and concerts, choral vendor exhibits, choral clinician workshops, performances by school, college, church, and children's choirs, an AVA membership meeting, the keynote address, concerts and workshops in other divisions, and more.

13 All-State Festival in March, a three day festival for all students who have made All-State, features open rehearsals conducted by the world-renowned clinicians, the All-State concerts, an AVA membership meeting, and more.

Directors who attend Fall Workshop, AMEA Conference, and All-State Festival will receive in-service certificates for each event.