HOW CAN I VIEW MY FESTIVAL REGISTRATIONS?
This information is all available in the Members-Only area of the SCVA website.
You can login with your e-mail address and members-only password, and then scroll down near the bottom of the page.
HOW DO I VIEW MY PAYMENT STATUS?
This information is all available in the Members-Only area of the SCVA website.
You can login with your e-mail address and members-only password, and then scroll down near the bottom of the page.
HOW DO I GET AN INVOICE REPRINT?
This information is all available in the Members-Only area of the SCVA website.
You can login with your e-mail address and members-only password, and then scroll down near the bottom of the page and click on the "[view]" link in the invoice column.
HOW LONG WILL THE FESTIVAL BE?
SCVA festivals are 90-120 minutes in length. All choirs are required to be present
for the entire festival so they can hear the performances of all the other choirs. There are 6-8 choirs enrolled in each SCVA choral
festival. A full high school festival has 8 choirs. A full middle school festival has 6 choirs. A full clinic festival has 6 choirs.
Each choir performs a set of music (typically 3 pieces) that does not exceed 12 minutes.
WHEN DO WE WARM UP?
Short onstage warm-ups (3-5 minutes) are available during the hour before the
festival begins. There is no offstage warmup room available.
WHAT SHOULD A CHOIR WEAR TO A FESTIVAL?
Concert choirs should wear uniforms or similar clothing while performing at festival. Options can include matching polo shirts or
t-shirts with the same color pants, formal wear (matching gowns and tuxedos), or students all wearing the same color (i.e., black).
Choir uniforms should meet the school dress code (if one exists at your school) and should not detract from the performance (i.e.,
too revealing, visually noisy).
WHAT SHOULD A CHOIR DIRECTOR WEAR TO A FESTIVAL?
The director should wear clothing similar to the uniforms of
the choir. The director of a choir in polo shirts may wear a matching shirt, or something of a similar style. Choirs in formalwear
should have a director also in formalwear. The clothing of the director should not be revealing nor detract from the performance
of the choir.
I REGISTERED FOR A FESTIVAL BUT NO ONE HAS CONTACTED ME
When you register online, you immediately receive a
registration confirmation email from admin@scvachoral.org. This email should also be used as your invoice. You can log in
to the Members Only page to view your festival registrations
and payment status. Your festival host will email you one month before your festival with specific info on directions and parking,
and ask you for your repertoire info for the festival program.
WHO ARE THE JUDGES?
Each festival has two certified adjudicators who will give comments and/or grades to each
director. You will find out the names of your judges from your festival host; they are not published online. One judge will do detailed
written comments, and the other judge will audio record verbal comments. For more info on audio recording verbal comments, please see
What Do I Bring? below.
WHAT HAPPENS AT AN SCVA SIGHTREADING FESTIVAL?
An SCVA sightreading festival is very similar to other choral
festivals. Your choir will be seated in the audience and watch the other choirs perform. After your choir performs, they will be
escorted to a nearby classroom for their sightreading adjudication. Your choir will receive copies of a newly composed sightreading
example; you already chose their sightreading level and voicing when you registered for the festival. The sightreading judge will
lead you and the choir through the adjudication. The choir will return to the performance venue to hear the other groups perform.
Your festival plaque will include your performance rating and your sightreading rating. For more information, click
here.
HOW DO I CHANGE THE LEVEL AND/OR VOICING FOR MY CHOIR'S SIGHTREADING?
You can change the sightreading level and
voicing for your choir on the SCVA Members-Only webpage. Changes must be made no later
than 7 days prior to your festival.
WHAT DO I BRING TO THE FESTIVAL?
Each director must bring TWO ORIGINAL OCTAVOS of each piece being
performed for use by the adjudicators. Duplicating copyrighted music is illegal. Any ensemble submitting photocopies will have its
adjudication withheld. Also BRING YOUR OWN RECORDING DEVICE (BYORD) to the festival to receive recorded comments from the
adjudicators. Many directors use a smartphone with a voice recording app as their recording device. You will need to provide a person
to assist the judge in operating the device if needed. If no recording device is provided, then two written adjudications will be
received. Your festival host may choose to provide digital audio recordings of adjudicator comments; in this case you do not need to
BYORD. Your octavos and recording device will be returned to you at the end of the festival along with your score sheets and plaque.
HOW DOES THE FESTIVAL SCORING AND RATING WORK?
The SCVA festival adjudication form uses an 80-point scale. You can download a PDF of the festival adjudication form
here. Each of the two judges' scores will be averaged into a rating:
Superior rating is 69.5-80 points, an Excellent rating is 55.5-69.4 points, a Good rating is 44.5-55.4, and a rating
of Participant is given for scores below 44.5. At the conclusion of the festival, your octavos, score sheets, and recording device
will be returned to you with your plaque and rating. However, no places will be awarded (first, second, etc) and you will NOT receive a
score recap sheet.
I REWROTE SOME OF THE PARTS TO FIT THE VOCAL RANGE OF MY SINGERS. WHAT DO I DO?
Clearly notate your changes on two
original octavos for the judges. They cannot evaluate the performance for accuracy without this.
DO WE HAVE TO SING A PIECE FROM THE RECOMMENDED FESTIVAL MUSIC LIST?
No. The SCVA Recommended
Festival Music List is recommended, not required. Other repertoire may be used, but it must be of the same high musical quality as the
pieces on the Recommended Festival Music List.
CAN I USE A PRE-RECORDED ACCOMPANIMENT TRACK?
No. Pre-recorded accompaniment tracks may NOT be used in choral festivals. Any
ensemble using pre-recorded accompaniment will have its adjudication withheld.
DO I HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF SCVA?
Yes. An SCVA Choral Festival is open to the choirs of current SCVA members. According to the
SCVA Bylaws "The membership year shall be from August 1 to June 30."
CAN MY CHOIR ATTEND TWO DIFFERENT FESTIVALS?
No. Each choir can only attend one festival per year. However, the free choir of a
festival host may attend a second "away" festival.
CAN I ENROLL THREE OF MY ENSEMBLES IN THE SAME FESTIVAL?
No. One school is limited to enrolling two ensembles in a festival.
WHERE SHOULD I SEND MY PAYMENT?
You can send a school or booster check (no personal checks) payable to "SCVA" to:
Jared Pugh
San Dimas High School - Choral Music Dept.
800 W Covina Blvd.
You can also pay on-line securely using PayPal with any major credit card (MasterCard/Visa/Discover/AmericanExpress) by going to the
e-Payments page and scrolling down to the Festival Registration Fee items, then entering the School Name and Choir Name.
THERE WERE TWO SLOTS AVAILABLE FOR A FESTIVAL, BUT WHEN I TRIED TO REGISTER MY SECOND CHOIR, THE WEBSITE REPORTED THAT THE FESTIVAL WAS FULL. The festival registration is a real-time system that accepts registrations as they are submitted. This situation can happen if a choir from another school registered for the festival in between your first and second registration, thereby filling up the remaining slot. For this reason, we encourage directors to register their ensembles as quickly as possible, rather than waiting until the festival is almost full. The second registration can still be submitted, although it will be added to a wait-list. If there are any cancellations, the wait-listed festival registration will be activated automatically.
I CAN'T ATTEND MY FESTIVAL -- CAN I GET A REFUND?
Festival fees are non-refundable unless the Festival is cancelled by SCVA. If
you have a schedule conflict with your original festival, the VP's of Festivals
will try to schedule you into an alternate festival. If there are unusual
circumstances regarding your cancellation, you may submit a written request for
a refund to the SCVA Executive Board. Requests will be considered on a case by
case basis at regularly scheduled board meetings.
ARE SCVA FESTIVALS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?
SCVA festival audience members are limited to the participating choir members, directors and accompanists, adult chaperones, and adjudicators. SCVA festivals are not open to the public, which includes family members of participants. Many festival venues have limited seating capacity, which must be reserved for the participants. Having members of the public attend could also interfere with expected concert etiquette and the desired learning experience for the singers.