Yes!

Nope.  We encourage you to explore great literature of your choosing.

The Festival Only rate is $125.00 per performer, and directors and chaperones are free.

Absolutely!  We highly recommend our sister organization, Harmony Tours, for all of your performing arts group tour needs... even if you can't join the Harmony Honors Festival.

Ensembles that have achieved a superior rating within the past two years, or who submit a current non-edited recording of their ensemble to our Festival Director are most welcome to participate in the festival.

With no ratings or rankings, our esteemed team of evaluators will be able to help each ensemble explore music interpretation, excellence, musicality and musicianship on their continued development and musical journey.

The evaluators will also include comments on the following rubrics for performance:

Tone Quality

• Produce a dark, characteristic tone quality • Produce a focused, controlled sound in all ranges and registers

• Demonstrate proper use of vibrato

• Produce a quality sound on percussion instruments through proper technique and choice of equipment

• Bowing/breath support -Upper range Lower range

• Produce uniform tonal focus throughout the ensemble

Intonation

• Demonstrate careful attention to tuning and pitch processes

• Understand chordal and harmonic structures

• Adjust any perceived pitch issues

• Demonstrate percussion tuning to match the ensemble

• Listening for pitch adjusting pitch issues

• Unisons /melodic pitch

Technique

• Meet technical demands with precision

• Demonstrate an understanding of styles of articulation

• Demonstrate dexterity in performing technical passages

• Start and stop together, within sections and across the ensemble

• Finger/bowing precision

Rhythm

• Demonstrate control of rhythms

• Maintain tempo

• Produce a natural feel to rhythmic passages

• Demonstrate control in multi-metered passages

• Vertical alignment Subdivision

Balance

• Produce correct balance in all sections of the music

• Demonstrate balance between inner and outer voices

• Demonstrate the melodic line as the prevalent voice as required

• Understand the supportive relationship between the percussion, strings and wind sections

Musicianship

• Demonstrate attention to detail

• Demonstrate the music's expressive features

• Shaping phrases using dynamics, articulation, and direction

• Produce effective moods and emotions

• Demonstrate an understanding of musical style

• Interpretation