Updated 12/10/2008

ARTICLE 3 - GENERAL RULES FOR STATE CONTESTS

A. DATES
1. District Solo and Ensemble Contests shall be held at least four weeks prior to the State Solo and Ensemble Contest.
2. The State Solo and Ensemble Contest shall be held the first Saturday in May.
3. The State Organization Contest shall be held by the last Saturday in April.

B. FEES
1. State organization and solo and ensemble fees shall be determined by a two-thirds vote of the active membership in attendance at the annual State Meeting of the Association. These fees shall be sent by the District Chairperson to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association immediately following the District Contests.

2. District organization and solo and ensemble fees shall be determined by the individual Districts and are to be paid to the District Chairperson prior to the District Contests.

C. RATINGS
1. Bands, orchestras, choruses, soloists and ensembles shall be rated in three divisions as follows: Division I, Division II or Division III.

a. A Division I SUPERIOR rating may be awarded to Class A soloists and ensembles
receiving a perfect score from the adjudicator. Stage (Jazz) Bands, Lab Bands and Lab Choirs classified by school enrollment and not by the degree of difficulty of the music performed also may earn this rating by receiving a perfect score from the adjudicator.

b. A Division I SUPERIOR rating may be given to a band, orchestra or chorus receiving the appropriate score for this rating ONLY when ALL adjudicators concur. Adjudicators shall not confer with regard to he rating of any participating organization.

D. CONTEST DATA ENTRY
1. Contest entry materials shall be furnished to participating schools by the District Chairperson. These materials must be filled out completely and signed by the music director and administrator of the participating school.

E. ENTRIES
1. The Executive Committee will accept for State Contest participation any Division I SUPERIOR and Division I organization, solo or ensemble as certified by the District Chairperson.

a. Class F organizations and Class D and E solos and ensembles are not eligible for participation in the State Contest.

2. To qualify for participation in the State Contest, all organizations, soloists and ensembles must participate in the District Contest.
3. Music Directors of eligible organizations and solos and ensembles desiring NOT TO CONTINUE to the State level participation must inform the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association of that fact immediately following the District Contest.

F. AWARDS
1. The Association shall present medals, free of charge, to all soloists, members of ensembles and organizations receiving Division I SUPERIOR, Division I and Division II ratings at the State Contest. In addition, organizations receiving Division I SUPERIOR and Division I ratings will receive a plaque. Medals and Plaques will not be presented to schools delinquent in payment of Association fees until all said fees have been paid.
2. All District medals and comment sheets must be purchased by the District Chairperson from the Vice-President of the Association. Fees for said medals and comment sheets will be determined by a vote of the general membership of the Association upon the recommendation of the Vice-President. The distribution of the medals and comment sheets shall be determined by the Districts.

G. MUSIC LISTS
1. A suggested list of solos and ensembles classified according to the difficulty of the music shall be compiled by the Association and made available to the membership.
a. These lists shall be revised as necessary through the addition of new material.
2. It is not required that solos and ensembles be taken from the suggested lists, however, solos and ensembles taken from the suggested lists MUST use the classification indicated for said solo or ensemble in the suggested lists.
3. Solos or ensembles NOT taken from the suggested lists shall be classified by the music director. All classifications shall be consistent with the classifications used in the suggested lists. It shall be the responsibility of the District Chairperson to reclassify a particular solo or ensemble that does not meet the criteria established in the suggested lists.

H. ELIGIBILITY
1. Soloists and members of participating organizations and ensembles must be certified students of the school that they represent.

I. ADJUDICATORS
1. Adjudicators shall be knowledgeable and experienced in teaching and evaluating elementary, middle and junior high school music students.
2. Adjudicators shall be supplied with comment sheets upon which they shall record helpful criticism.
3. Adjudicators shall be instructed to give ratings consistent with their comments on the adjudication sheets.

J. DIRECTORS CONDUCT
1. Directors are not permitted to enter or be present in a solo or ensemble contest room prior to, during or immediately following the performance of a contestant from their school unless they are accompanying the event. The penalty for violating this rule will be the disqualification of the contestant(s) in said event. Adjudicators are instructed to ask directors who ignore this rule to leave the room.
2. A directors conduct should be professional at all times and set forth a proper example for student participants.

K. STUDENT DISCIPLINE - CONTEST CENTERS
1. Each school sending participants to contest must have at least one adult in charge of student conduct and actions. The matter of discipline must be strict due to the large number of students attending contest centers.
2. Any damage to the host school property must be paid for either by the student committing the damage or by the school that the particular student represents.
3. Students committing property damage or offering behavior problems will be reported to the Host Chairperson. The Host Chairperson will report the students name to the music director and to the President of the Association in writing. The Executive Committee will automatically bar that particular student from any future Illinois Grade School Music Association, Southern Division activities. In the case of repeated disciplinary problems from a particular school, that school may be excluded from Association affairs for one school year. Such action will be undertaken only by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.

L. VIOLATION OF CONTEST RULES
1. Any violation of the contest rules of this Association shall be presented to the President. It shall be his duty to present the same to the members of the Executive Committee in writing. The penalty, which shall never be more severe than suspension of one year from the Association, shall be determined by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. Members of this Association shall be responsible for becoming familiar with and for observing all rules.