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All County Festival Participation Information
Your child's acceptance into one of this year's OCMEA All-County Ensembles is an outstanding achievement. Selection for an ensemble indicates exceptional musical talent, and extraordinary achievement toward musical perfection. We encourage you to carefully read the following expectations related to your child's participation:
Availability
When your child signed the permission slip, he/she already indicated he/she would be available for all rehearsals during the festival weekends. If a conflict has arisen with another activity that will interfere with this OCMEA commitment, your child will have to make a choice between the activities. No exceptions will be made. If your child's availability has since changed, he/she should contact the teacher immediately so that an alternate student may have the opportunity to participate.
Lateness/Absence
Because rehearsal time is so limited, it is OCMEA's policy that students may not miss any rehearsal or any part of a rehearsal for any reason. No exceptions to this policy will be allowed. For example, if a rehearsal is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM, the student should be in their seat ready to warm up and tune no later than 8:45 AM. This will allow the guest conductor to immediately begin rehearsal at the appointed time. If the student comes late, he/she will be dismissed from the ensemble.
Tickets
OCMEA sells tickets for each of our All-County Concerts. The cost is $3.00 for adults, and $2.00 each for students and seniors. This fee helps to pay for the cost of the festival, the conductor, music, and other expenses.
Concerts
At each of our festivals, there are a large number of parents and friends who attend these concerts. Depending upon the venue used, the lobby is often very crowded before the door opens for the concert. This is caused by the need to finish dress rehearsals and prepare the stage for the new ensembles. You are likely to have to exercise great patience at this time.
Student Availability
Our students are highly supervised during and after their performance. The concerts are usually only about an hour in length and the students are expected to be under our supervision until the entire concert is over. This means that if your child is in one of the performing ensembles, he/she is not free to leave or join you until after the last ensemble performs. This is standard, acceptable concert behavior and sets a good example for our students. We encourage you to also enjoy the entire concert. Less disruption will occur and the concerts can end on time.
Concert Etiquette
In an attempt to help family and friends enjoy all our concerts, as well as making it easier for our featured performers to do their best on stage, the following suggestions are offered to our All-County audiences:
Picture taking and video cameras during a performance are often very disruptive and irritating to other concert goers. We will provide an opportunity for you to take pictures at the conclusion of each ensemble's performance. If you wish to use a video camera, we ask you to stand on the side or in the back of the auditorium. Please turn off any beepers, cell phones, wristwatches, or other electronic devices.
Please make an effort to be settled in your seats BEFORE the concert begins. Make sure all restroom needs (especially for small children) are taken care of ahead of time. A moment to relax and turn one's full attention to the program often enhances the enjoyment of the performance.
Talking or even whispering during the performance is disrespectful to the performers as well as distracting to others in the audience. In fact, any excessive movement or commotion can be a source of irritation to others who wish to listen and concentrate on the performance.
Enthusiastic applause at the end of a complete musical selection is encouraged and appreciated. Whistling and shouting is not. It is also customary to applaud only at the end of the last movement of a multi-movement selection.
At all concerts, it is expected that audience members will remain until the end of all ensembles' performances. The concerts are not long and our young music students very much enjoy performing for a large audience. All students will be properly chaperoned until after the entire concert. If you must leave in an emergency situation, please do so only at the end of a musical selection and not while the students are performing.
We hope the above information will help you fully enjoy the concerts and your child's participation. We want this to be a positive experience for everyone as well as a learning and inspirational opportunity for the young musician in your family. If you have any additional questions, please contact your child's teacher. Attention to these few suggestions will ensure a happy time for all those in the audience and a musically memorable performance for our All-County musicians.
Perspective
Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation and assistance in providing the best possible musical experiences for all the children. We at OCMEA are passionate about our love for music, and enjoy sharing this gift with your children. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns that you may have.
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