Winter is here!

TMEA Band Colleagues,

Please be safe this evening and over the next few days. They say roads will be bad in parts of our region covered in snow and ice. Put on a pot of soup and stay warm!

Thank you,

Steven Dojahn

Lee HS Director of Bands - Midland, Texas

TMEA Region 6 Band Chair

TMEA All-Region Audition Entries now open!

Dear TMEA Region 6 Band Colleagues,

I hope you are doing well. This email is intended for band directors and teachers of students auditioning for the 5A/6A All-Region Bands. This includes Phase 1 West Zone, Phase 1 East Zone, Phase 2, and Freshman Region Band. If you are not entering students into the TMEA All-Region process, please ignore this email.

All-Region Entries are now open through the TMEA website. You will find quite a bit of information in this email, including a link to a short video about entering students into the TMEA process. This year, judging will be done virtually. Any director who enters students in the TMEA All-Region process and other directors at the same school are expected to judge. Judging assignments will be sent out on Monday before judging begins for each contest. Freshman auditions will have judging panels of 3 directors each. High School All-Region Band auditions will have judging panels of 5 directors each. Middle School directors not entering students: We need your help with the judging! If you absolutely CANNOT judge the weekends of November 7th, 21st, and December 12th, please let me know ASAP!

Attached to this email, you will find four documents that you will need for this audition season.

• TMEA Virtual Audition Policies and Procedures 2020-2021
  
• TMEA Band Division Appendix 2020-2021
• TMEA Audition Process Judge Page Overview
• TMEA Region 6 Band Division Handbook

Click the link below to watch a video detailing how to enter students for All-Region on the new TMEA Website.

https://www.loom.com/share/26db572eb0724c5eaeb24c9955a66742

5A/6A Freshman All-Region Band Auditions

• Freshman students may audition in both the freshman all-region auditions and/or the regular high school all-region auditions. 
• A freshman student may only hold membership in one all-region band. They may not hold a spot in both the freshman all-region band and the high school all-region band. If a freshman student makes the freshman all-region band and the high school all-region band, they will forfeit their chair in the freshman all-region band, and the next chair student will be moved up.
• Freshmen are allowed to enter the regular high school all-region auditions even if they did not audition for the freshman all-region band. 
• Student entry fees will only be paid once per student for the entire process regardless of trying out for the freshman, phase 1, and/or phase 2 contests. 
• Freshman students who audition for the freshman all-region band will NOT be automatically entered into the phased all-region auditions. You must enter the students in both contests.
• The freshman entry fee is $17 per student per entry. If a student is auditioning on two different instruments, such as alto sax and tenor sax, the entry fee is doubled.
• If you are entering your freshman into both contests, your payment invoice printed from the TMEA website will indicate that you must pay twice for freshman; however, when you send your entry fee, you will indicate which students are entered in both contests and that you are only paying once for them.
• Freshman All-Region audition timeline
• Signup Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2020, 12:00 pm (Noon)
• Audio Upload period: Saturday, October 31, 2020, to Wednesday, November 4, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Judging Assignments announced: Monday, November 2, 2020
• Director Verification period: Thursday, November 5, 2020, to Friday, November 6, 2020, 11:59 pm
  
• Judging period: Saturday, November 7, 2020, to Sunday, November 8, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Results announced: Monday, November 9, 2020

5A/6A High School All-Region Band Auditions

• Please double check to make sure you are entering your students in the correct Zone. 
• West Zone includes Midland HS (6A), Lee HS (6A), Permian HS (6A), Odessa HS (6A), and any other 1A-4A schools in region 6 west of a line that connects Colorado City, Sterling City, Big Lake, and Sanderson.  Colorado City and Sterling City will be part of the east zone.  Big Lake and Sanderson will be a part of the west zone.
• East Zone includes Abilene HS (6A), San Angelo Central HS (6A), Abilene Cooper HS (5A), Wichita Falls HS (5A), Wichita Falls Rider HS (5A), Abilene Wylie HS (5A), and any other 1A-4A schools in region 6 east of a line that connects Colorado City, Sterling City, Big Lake, and Sanderson.  Colorado City and Sterling City will be part of the east zone.  Big Lake and Sanderson will be a part of the west zone.
• NEW for this year - You will enter students into both phases.
• Both phases will be open for online entries. You will enter all flute, Bb clarinet, alto sax, cornet/trumpet, horn, tenor trombone, percussion students into phase 1. All other students will be entered into phase 2.
• Entry Fees: The entry fee is $17 per student per entry. This already includes the $2.50 recording fee, which will be sent to TMEA. 
• If a student is auditioning on two different instruments, such as alto sax and tenor sax, the entry fee is doubled.
• Students who advance to Phase 2 from Phase 1 do not have an additional fee. Freshman students who audition at the freshman auditions do not have to pay an additional fee to audition in Phase1 or Phase 2. 
• Audition Cuts: Auditions cuts for each phase will be chosen by the 10 head high school band directors. 
• The director names will be drawn randomly for each instrument. I will email all head directors, letting them know the instruments they are to choose cuts for. Cuts must be emailed back to me one day before each contest deadline. More information will be emailed to head directors at a later time about this process. 
• Auditon cuts will be the same for both East and West Zone Phase 1 contests.
• We will go through the same process for Phase 2 cuts.
• Phase 1 Instruments: Only 7 sections will be judged in Phase 1 Auditions. (flute, Bb clarinet, alto saxophone, cornet/trumpet, horn, tenor trombone, and percussion). 
• The number of students advancing to phase 2 from each zone will be limited to the total number of musicians on each instrument that could possibly earn a spot in either of the all-region bands. Students placing high enough in Phase 1 will advance to Phase 2 for further auditioning. The other sections will compete in Phase 2 for All-Region Band membership.
• Number of students advancing from each zone from Phase 1 to Phase 2
• Flute: 13
• Bb Clarinet: 22
• Alto Sax: 9
• Cornet/Trumpet: 22
• F Horn: 14
• Tenor Trombone: 12
• Percussion: 14
• Phase 1 East/West Zone All-Region audition timeline
• Signup Deadline: Friday, November 13, 2020, 12:00 pm (Noon)
• Audition Cuts Released: Friday, November 13, 2020, 11:59 pm
  
• Audio Upload period: Saturday, November 14, 2020, to Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Judging Assignments announced: Monday, November 16, 2020
• Director Verification period: Thursday, November 19, 2020, to Friday, November 20, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Judging Period: Saturday, November 21, 2020, to Sunday, November 22, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Results Announced: Monday, November 23, 2020 
• Phase 2 All-Region audition timeline
• Signup Deadline: Friday, December 4, 2020, 12:00 pm (Noon)
• Audition Cuts Released: Friday, December 4, 2020, 11:59 pm
  
• Audio Upload period: Saturday, December 5, 2020, to Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Judging Assignments announced: Monday, December 7, 2020
• Director Verification period: Thursday, December 10, 2020, to Friday, December 11, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Judging Period: Saturday, December 12, 2020, to Thursday, November 17, 2020, 11:59 pm
• Results Announced: Friday, December 18, 2020 

Contest Emails from TMEA
So that you know, TMEA will send 5 emails to the primary director with entries in a contest as it approaches.

• Thursday before the Friday Noon entry deadline (only to directors with entries already): Reminder to check your entries for accuracy and instructions on where to find your student links to distribute.
• Friday after the entry deadline: Reminder that the contest audition period starts Saturday and instructions on where to find your student links to distribute if you have not already.
• Monday during the audition period: Reminder that the audition period closes Wednesday and instructions on where to find your student links.
• Wednesday (final day of auditions): Reminder that the audition period closes today, director verification will be Thursday and Friday, and instructions on where to find your student links and verification list.
• Friday (final day of verification): Reminder that the verification period closes today and instructions on where to find your student verification list.

Best wishes on your final audition preparations. If you have any questions, please reply or call or text at (432) 889-3591.

Thank you,

Steven Dojahn

Lee HS Director of Bands - Midland, Texas

TMEA Region 6 Band Chair

Online Zoom Region 6 Band Director Sessions

Colleagues,

Region 6 Band Directors. TMEA has grant money available to us to host online zoom clinics for our benefit. Click on the link below and choose up to three sessions that you would like to attend virtually. If you have already voted on our Facebook group page, please do not vote again. 

https://forms.gle/TSp91HfpArXyBMo4A

Thank you,

Steven Dojahn

Midland Lee HS Director of Bands

TMEA Region 6 Band Chair

Region 6 Proposed Clinicians

Colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. If you have not already done so, please join our Region 6 Band Director Facebook Group by clicking the link below. If you are not a member, please complete and submit the membership questions. 

TMEA has funding available for our region band division to host online zoom  PD sessions throughout the year. Thank you to the directors who submitted clinician names and sessions. It's now time to vote. Please click on the link below and locate the Facebook post containing the poll question. Please choose up to 3 clinicians. I will take the data and start scheduling the zoom PD sessions throughout the year. Thank you for your help. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tmearegion6banddirectors

Proposed Clinicians

• Reid Atkinson: Backwards planning
• Bryan Christian: Balancing work and personal life. He is too-notch.
• Benjamin Druffel: Body, Soul, and Spirit - Leading rehearsals that inspire
• Corey Graves: Secrets to a successful middle school program with little to no private lesson staff
• Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser: motivating distance learners and their teachers
• Richard and Cheryl Floyd: Making Music Matter
• Stan Mauldin: Teaching in both small school districts and large school districts. Success tips in both sizes.
• Dan Morrison: Happy, Not Satisfied.
• Jeremy Spicer: Improving program efficiency through student leadership

Thank you,

Steven Dojahn

Midland Lee HS Director of Bands

TMEA Region 6 Band Chair