Contest preparation
This module is devoted to ways of presenting your groups so they may receive a superior rating. The director must assume the position that a music contest is just that—a contest. Contests could be further boiled down to:
1. You and your students are entered in a contest against other high school students.
2. Contests involve winners and losers.
3. If you are going to compete in contests, compete to win.
One cannot return from a music contest and tell the parents, the community, and the administration that the day was ". . . musically stimulating," or that ". . . the students gave a good performance which was well received." Instead, you will be asked, "How many superior ratings did you receive?" This question cannot be answered in any way except by numbers of ratings.
The following guidelines for developing contest groups, although concerned with the best possible presentation of your ensembles, should not be interpreted to mean that any means of winning is justified. It should be clearly understood that a choral director has a responsibility to his students and to the other directors and competitors. But it is necessary to be completely honest, at this point, about music contests and call them what they are, contests.