Music students prepare for upcoming CMEA tests

As the competition dates of the California Music Education Association’s (CMEA) Solo and Ensemble festival near, students are busy preparing for and anticipating the fateful day. Taking place on March 9 and 15, the CMEA will be sure to test all the hard work and effort of the 48 participants who will play instruments from flute to trumpet to tuba.

The festival, held annually at San Jose State University, hosts a series of competitions where a soloist or an ensemble performs in front of a judge. The performers then receive a short critiques by the judge where the judge gives them a rating out of superior, excellent, good and poor.

However, there is a rating above the rating of superior, called “superior: command performance,” that only the best performers can achieve. The only way to get it is if the judge thinks the performance deserves a high level of praise, and that the musicians playing the piece should play the piece again in front of other professionals.

  Junior Timothy Casey-Clyde, an alto saxophone player who has participated in CMEA since middle school, said the festival is a way to improve his musical skills.

“Many students have little opportunity to perform in ensemble groups specific to their instrument, so CMEA gives students experience in playing closely with others,” Casey-Clyde said. “It is very helpful to be given a judge’s feedback on how you play your instrument, and how well an ensemble plays together.”

Freshman Uday Singh said the festival is not all about the ratings the judges give.

“At first, [my main goal was to] get all superiors,” said Singh. “Later on I realized that [the critiques of the judges] are actually helpful to make me a better player.”

For junior Nina Jayshankar, who does vocals, her motivation for competing in the festival is simply to be the best.

“All performers are rated on our performances,” Jayshankar said. “For me that's a huge motivator because I'm always aspiring to earn the highest rating.”

Performers often rehearse for months in advance before playing at the festival.

“Rehearsals for the festival obviously depend on the difficulty of the selected piece, which is free choice,” Casey-Clyde said. ”But typically, students sight-read music in late January or early February and rehearse once a week or more leading up to the festival in March.”

Casey-Clyde said that rehearsals are mainly student-based, with rarely any teacher help.

“There really is little teacher involvement unless requested; rehearsals and preparation are totally up to the students,” Casey-Clyde said.

Singh said it takes a long time to learn a piece well, so he advises that any people planning to participate in CMEA should pick their piece early.

“I picked my piece last April and have been preparing since then,” Singh said. “I really like CMEA, and after almost a year of preparation, I think I will do well.”

Music teacher Michael Boitz commends the students participating at CMEA.

“I think that all the participants are courageous and strong because it takes a lot to do something not normally required of you, as in outside the school curriculum, or what you do for a test or for homework or extra credit,” Boitz said. “I am so proud of these students, and I want to let them know that I support them with all my heart.”