I'm not sure how many people within this thread are familiar with groups like NYSSMA or NYSBDA, as they're all New York associated groups but here goes my short story.
The other day August 25th I was anxiously waiting my arrival of mail for my notification of making the New York All State Jazz Band, I had auditioned in all 3 horns (Alto, Tenor, Bari) and I had got perfect scores on alto and tenor (100/100) and a 97 on Bari all with a bunch of strengths on each sheet. I was well in the running and had a great shot at making the band as I had made All County Jazz all my years previous and had participated in an auditioned out of school group the past year which just increased my chances. As I was going through my mail I had seen that my letters had arrived (only for Alto and Tenor) and I opened them and my heart shattered as I saw two ALTERNATE letters (and yes they did say Alternate in bold and caps) in front of me. I was actually very much devastated at the fact I hadn't made it. Later that day I had found out 2 guys from my county (according to NYSSMA they try to take players from evenly spread geographic zones from the state) and one player had made the Jazz at Lincoln Center Band so I wasn't that upset about that. What I had found out that totally ripped me to shreds was that the second chair tenor player from my county (yes I am the first chair tenor) had made first chair tenor in All state Jazz! I was furious because this guy had come out of nowhere and as NYSSMA states in their website and I quote "The All-State Selection Committee reviews (in no specific priority): member school music teacher recommendations, adjudicator recommendations, the candidate's previous NYSSMA Solo ratings, grade in school, zone representation, participation in the previous year's All-State, and participation in other performing organization." I had filled almost all these conditions and I somehow was passed over to another person that hadn't fulfilled some of these?!?! The sad part comes now as that I don't have a desire to pick up my horn as much as I used to anymore and when I do play I just feel sadness and not sure why I want to major in music and I feel this whole process has killed my passion for music and Jazz. I'm not really sure how to cope at this point and I just wanted to get my words out here with guys who might have gone through a similar situation.
On a side note, my dad found a group called NYSBDA which is a group for people who did not make the NYSSMA All State ensembles, I wanted to know if anyone had any sort of knowledge on this as I know little to nothing about it.
Thanks for taking the time to read all, Matt
The other day August 25th I was anxiously waiting my arrival of mail for my notification of making the New York All State Jazz Band, I had auditioned in all 3 horns (Alto, Tenor, Bari) and I had got perfect scores on alto and tenor (100/100) and a 97 on Bari all with a bunch of strengths on each sheet. I was well in the running and had a great shot at making the band as I had made All County Jazz all my years previous and had participated in an auditioned out of school group the past year which just increased my chances. As I was going through my mail I had seen that my letters had arrived (only for Alto and Tenor) and I opened them and my heart shattered as I saw two ALTERNATE letters (and yes they did say Alternate in bold and caps) in front of me. I was actually very much devastated at the fact I hadn't made it. Later that day I had found out 2 guys from my county (according to NYSSMA they try to take players from evenly spread geographic zones from the state) and one player had made the Jazz at Lincoln Center Band so I wasn't that upset about that. What I had found out that totally ripped me to shreds was that the second chair tenor player from my county (yes I am the first chair tenor) had made first chair tenor in All state Jazz! I was furious because this guy had come out of nowhere and as NYSSMA states in their website and I quote "The All-State Selection Committee reviews (in no specific priority): member school music teacher recommendations, adjudicator recommendations, the candidate's previous NYSSMA Solo ratings, grade in school, zone representation, participation in the previous year's All-State, and participation in other performing organization." I had filled almost all these conditions and I somehow was passed over to another person that hadn't fulfilled some of these?!?! The sad part comes now as that I don't have a desire to pick up my horn as much as I used to anymore and when I do play I just feel sadness and not sure why I want to major in music and I feel this whole process has killed my passion for music and Jazz. I'm not really sure how to cope at this point and I just wanted to get my words out here with guys who might have gone through a similar situation.
On a side note, my dad found a group called NYSBDA which is a group for people who did not make the NYSSMA All State ensembles, I wanted to know if anyone had any sort of knowledge on this as I know little to nothing about it.
Thanks for taking the time to read all, Matt