It’s finally happening!!! As many of you know, there is an additional ALL-STATE CHOIR coming to Kansas at the 2019 February In-Service Workshop! The final decision was made at the July 2017 KMEA Board Meeting, when the Board voted unanimously to add an All-State Treble Choir to the annual convention. The two choirs will allow all seven districts to have more representation in an all-state choir. Details are currently being discussed regarding what the formula/selection process will look like for the new Treble Choir. The KMEA Executive Board has created a Formula Committee, comprised of representatives from each of the seven districts, KMEA Webmaster Troy Johnson, and KMEA Ensembles Chair Randall Fillmore.
The decision was made after a two-year process supported by data and input from the choir community. Because the number of districts will increase to seven in 2019, the Board decided this was the perfect time to increase the number of students participating in the all-state choir experience. The process by which the KMEA Board arrived at its final decision is as follows:
1. Discussions regarding the need for change began in the summer of 2015 when data was presented to KMEA President Martha Gabel showing the number of students involved in choral music across the state is now over 14,000 in grades 10-12. In addition, the formula had not been reconfigured for at least 15 years, and data showed there are already districts that are significantly underrepresented at the State Level due to population shifts within our state over that time. With this information, the KMEA Executive Board began discussions regarding the data and a timeline for the process.
2. It is important to note the following about the current formula and the push for an additional All-State Choir:
The KMEA Executive Board researched the existing formula, which states that each district has representation in the All-State Choir, and that representation is based on the district’s population. Also, currently each district is guaranteed a minimum of 6 quartets in the All-State Choir. Using the existing formula, together with recent population changes and an increase in the number of districts to seven, two districts would gain quartets and the other four districts would lose quartets, which would eliminate the guarantee that all districts could bring 6 quartets. In addition, there is a cap of 256 singers that can participate in the choir due to space limitations of Century II’s Concert Hall, where the performances are given. Given these factors, it was decided that something needed to be done to support the large number of choral musicians across the entire state of Kansas.
3. One of many strengths of KMEA is its collaboration with the Affiliate Organizations. KCDA was contacted and asked to document the need for an additional All-State Choir. KMEA President Gabel appointed an exploration committee that included District Presidents or appointed representatives from each KMEA District, as well as KCDA representatives. The All-State Choir Committee convened during KCDA in July 2016; data was shared and discussion ensued. Committee members were encouraged to promote discussions at meetings where choral music educators were present. There were many positive and constructive ideas discussed at the meeting. In the end, the committee put forth the following options:
- Live All-State Auditions vs. District Allotted Honor Choir
- Two mixed Choirs—one for grades 9-10 and one for grades 11-12
- School Classifications Choir: 1-2-3-4A/5-6A Mixed Choirs
- Mixed Choir (current practice) and one Treble Choir
- Possibility of 9th graders performing in the All-State Choir
Surveys were sent to directors across the state. In addition, discussions were held at District Mini-Convention, where committee members and district presidents were asked to lead discussions regarding all talking points and to then take a rough poll of the choir directors present.
4. Based on the survey, KCDA recommended to the KMEA Board that KMEA add another All-State Choir to the KMEA All-State roster of performances. The two most popular choir choices were the Mixed Choir /Treble Choir and the 1234A Choir/56A Choir – the vote was essentially tied. Directors were strongly in favor of keeping both the District Allotment option and of adding freshmen to the All-State Choir. With this information the KMEA Executive Board made two additional decisions:
- A new survey would be distributed that asked directors to vote between the two most popular options: Mixed/Treble and 1-2-3-4A/5-6A
- The option to include freshmen as members of the All-State Choir would be tabled until all entities (band, orchestra and choir) could be represented in the decision.
New surveys were distributed via the KCDA booth asking members to choose between the two most popular options from the previous survey (1234A/56A vs. Mixed/Treble). The online survey, which closed in April 2017, showed that directors across the state were evenly divided between 1234A/56A and Mixed/Treble. In June 2017, the KMEA Board discussed the tied vote and the data once again. It was decided that the District Presidents and Affiliate organizations should have another opportunity to discussion these options with their membership at summer conventions and board meetings.
5. Finally, in July 2017, the KMEA Board voted to approve a High School All-State Treble Choir. The discussion included the following points supporting this decision:
- The ratio of women to men who have auditioned two consecutive years is almost 2:1.
- At this time the data shows that there will not be enough Tenor/Bass voices to support a 1234A, 256-member choir. This would take away from the overall opportunities for all choral musicians across the state.
- The 1234/56A split will not be equitable. Because of the diversity found throughout the state of Kansas (KMEA districts without various sized schools or small numbers of certain sized schools), there does not seem to be a fair way to determine the makeup of a 1-4A/56A choir split without a statewide audition, which was clearly not wanted by the majority of the directors.
- The SATB/Treble option is the least disruptive, most equitable choice – It causes the least change to the current methods that each district uses to choose their district choir students (e.g. sight-singing if desired, allowing freshmen to audition, imposing school limits, etc.).
- This option invites fewer comparisons between the two all-state choirs.
- This allows the smaller school students the opportunity to audition and sing with students from the larger schools, which was an important item for small school directors
- All districts should see more all-state slots overall in the choir.
Jane Vanderhoff has been asked to chair this new choir in February 2019. Meanwhile, the Formula Committee will begin work on the details that will determine how members are selected, how to audition students, and a formula that will best represent all KMEA Districts and its students.
