PMEA District 2 - Band Selection Procedures

1. When completing the application form for participation in a district festival, ALL information requested must be supplied. Up to date enrollment figures (grades 10, 11, 12) are to be provided on the director’s preference list. If not, the latest figures available to the selection committee will be used for that school.

2. The instrumentation of the band is predetermined. The band in district 2 has the same instrumentation as the region band, which is listed later in this booklet. The only time this is changed is in order to accommodate size problems on the host school stage or to accommodate special needs to perform a particular piece of music. Once the assigned number of players has been reached within a section, that section is closed. ie: four alto saxes are to be selected. In round one the first four schools have listed alto sax as their first choice. These four students are placed in the band and the section is closed. A fifth school has also listed alto sax as its first choice. This student must be passed over to the next name on the list unless an alternate instrument is listed. The numbering on school number five’s preference list is adjusted accordingly (2 becomes 1, 3 becomes 2 etc.).

3. Under the heading Directors Preference List, the director should indicate the order in which he wishes the students to be selected. This rating should be done with the closing procedure in mind. The director must rate all students. Keeping in mind that some sections close quickly, directors should send enough applications to reach their quota if they have qualified students. Foreign exchange students are part of normal quota.

4. When completing the application, care should be taken to list the student’s first, second, and third instrument choice. A clarinet player may be listed as clarinet 1 for first choice, clarinet 2 for second choice, and clarinet 3 for third choice. Directors should be aware that trumpet 1 and 2 and cornet 1, 2, and 3 are all separate choices.

5. The number of students representing each school will be determined by school enrollment in grades 10, 11, and 12. The breakdown is shown below.

School Size Number of Participants

0-500 3 (4)*

501-1000 4 (5)

1001-1500 5 (6)

1501-2000+ 6 (7)

*These figures are subject to change yearly depending on the number of schools applying and the size of the band being selected.

6. The order of schools for the selection process is determined within each quota category by a random drawing. Beginning with the largest schools the selection process proceeds round robin from the largest through the smallest schools, selecting from the director's preference list. Once a school has reached its assigned quota, that school is removed from the process, which continues without that school. Once all possible choices have been taken from all schools, all schools are returned to the process to fill sections that still need players. In this way schools may receive more members than their quota indicates. The host school is entitled to quota plus one-half.

7. One student will be selected for each section in addition to those for the required instrumentation during the regular selection process. This person will be the alternate who will replace any cancellation in the section prior to the festival. This will make the host's job much easier by having this person identified in advance and not having to go back through the process and try and guess whom the next person would have been.