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Let's make this simple. Congratulations, Ken.

If you got a 100 on a level 6 all-state audition, with a piece like the VW, I'd wager a good five bucks you're going to All-State. Congrats.

K-Town,

I've heard about the NYSMMA, but never went through this since I started on tuba after high school. I wanted to ask what do you go through with this audition. Do you have to sign up for this, is it mandatory?

I can only say congrats on the fine job with the tuba. You're a talented musician.

Hank74

I've got sorta mixed feelings about NYSSMA and all that jazz. It can be a good experience, especially to play in All State/All County, but it puts a lot of pressure on essentially one prepared solo, and one performance. Many teachers will just start their kids on the solo over a year ahead of time and get them built up. Then of course you have all of the pressure and tears that K-town talked about.
I went only once, 11th grade and did the all state solo. I think I got a 98? I can't remember, but I did end up going to all county. Now I'm at a great music school in NY state where most of the people here did NYSSMA, and noone really knows/cares what level you got...
I'm not saying noone should do NYSSMA, it can be good, but people should not put so much pressure on it as the end all performance.
Congrats on your score though, that sounds great!

It is, as you say, based on that one performance. It's great if you go through the process, get the 100 and make All-State. Being a part of the All-State Band, Wind Ens., or Orch. can be a tremendously rewarding musical experience and it puts you in contention to be selected to participate in the All-Eastern MENC ensembles. However, the selection was based on that one audition and as you said, when you're in college, nobody cares or even talks about if you made All-State. I know many very fine players who never made All-State and are active performing professional musicians in the area. If you have a bad day and don't get the 100, you probably don't make All-State. And, there are plenty of very fine players who could have gotten a 100 and didn't because of having a bad day or worse yet, an adjudicator who missed the mark for whatever reason.
I think some other states have a possibly better system where all of the auditionees prepare the same pre-selected solo. They also play it for more than one adjudicator and all during the same weekend. With NYSSMA, you select one of many (20 or so) solo selections from the Manual, perform at your site, on your assigned date anywhere from April until June. And, you play for one adjudicator. There are many All-State brass adjudicators assigned around the state.
The bottom line to me, is that there is no perfect audition sytem and scoring a 100 and making All-State doesn't necessarily mean you're one of the top 8 HS tubists in NY State. Still, getting the 100 is a tremendous accomplishment, and hopefully, a stepping stone to other rewarding tuba playing experiences. Congratulations to all of our NY HS tubists who did score a 100 on their All-State solos!!
BTW, my son, Danny, also received a 100 on his All-State tuba solo!!

euphgal88 wrote:Unfortunately a lot of band directors act like not making all state is the end of the world. Its a shame that sometimes it isn't just about being a good musician.

One reason for that is because it makes them look good. There are two sides to that though. If that's all the teacher cares about, then that's really awful, and that is often the case. However, sometimes the music program can be great at a school, yet there may be no way of showing that to the "higher ups". Then, the teacher might want to send all of their great players to NYSSMA so they can get great scores and show the rest of the district that their music program has 6 or 7 kids in all state. Thus, saving the music program from a budget cut the next vote.

It depends...do you live in a county that has a lot of people going to all state? I've heard that with certain instruments such as saxophone, you NEED a 100 to even be considered, because there are always so many people getting those high scores, especially around long island where there are lots of very good schools. However, I don't think that really applies to tuba too much. Also, they tend to select players from all over the state, so that they don't end up with 90% of the kids coming from one region if that region has a very good school. So, I think you have a better chance if you don't live in Suffolk County.

In reality though, I think you have a very good chance of going, regardless. It sounds like you really impressed them. Just don't get your hopes up too much, as anything can happen when there is an entire state of high schoolers fighting for very few seats. Even if you don't make it, at least you got an awesome score, and All-State doesn't really matter when you're auditioning for college.

hopefully this won't flame up too much...

Not to mention that each county/zone has a certain quota or percentage allotted to it. A tuba player with a 100 in a small zone will not stand as good a chance as one with a 100 from say, NYC/L.I. It's unfortunate thats how the system works, but we have to deal. I think the only real way to judge it fairly is to have one tuba judge for the entire state judging students playing the same piece, but it's very clear the reasons why that wouldn't work. Not to mention that it limits the band directors ability to teach creatively. I see that turning into more of a perfectionist attitude about a certain piece rather than helping guide a student towards a piece with a lot of aesthetical/musical value.

Ranting stories:
There was a saxophone player at my high school who got a 100 on a level 6 nyssma solo for 6 years (yeah, that means as a 6th grader he was playing pretty darn well) and never made allstate. He went on to eastman for a dual bachelors and a masters. (small zone vs. large zone)

After attending some summer camps up in the rochester area there were tuba players that i heard that weren't quite at the level I was at that time but still made Allstate over me. Bill Troiano is so correct in saying it's not a great reflection on ability and NO ONE talks about it at college.

Congrats anyways, and I imagine you stand a great chance for Allstate. Enjoy the conference and check out as many vendors as possible. Bring some money to check out that new england sheet music guy. Great prices!

-Christian Carichner

I am not an All-State judge. However, I know that each adjudicator must rank the students he heard in his brass room that weekend with the 100's being placed on top. Within the 100 catagory, much of the ranking is based on the adjudicator's overall opinion of the performance. A tubist scoring a 100 and ranked number one in his room would definitely stand a better chance of making All-State than a tubist scoring a 100, but ranking lower in a different room. Adjudicators are not supposed to give any consideration to which level 6 solo is being performed. The difficulty of the piece should not carry any weight, as a level 6 solo should be a level 6 solo. We all know that there solos within each grade level that would be considered more difficlult to play than some other solos in the same level. However, the adjudicator is supposed to grade the performance not the piece.
Once the All-State selection comittee ranks the tubists, the top 13 get chosen for the ensembles. The highest ranking student gets selected for orchestra, with the next 2 in the wind ens. and the final 8 play in the concert band. However, they try not to place a student in the same ensemble if the student is selected for 2 consecutive years.
It's not a perfect system by any means. I just hope my son gets in!!

Bill Troiano wrote:as you said, when you're in college, nobody cares or even talks about if you made All-State.

I think it's really hard to realize while in high school how much the entire thing doesn't matter once you're in college for a while. And also, once you're in the working world, how much what you did it college doesn't matter. To me, the main thing with high school is do well enough so you can get into the college of your choice, and then in college, do well enough so you can have a stab at the job/career of your choice. The job/career is the long haul.

MA