Updated April 2019
 
Sonatina Piano Competition Information & Guidelines – 2019

Purpose:
  • To provide students with the opportunity to perform before a judge
  • To provide students with a positive, professional critique of his/her performance
  • To provide students with a healthy, encouraging atmosphere for competition
 
Eligible Students:
  • Students of members of TVMTA in good standing (dues current)
  • Students of non-TVMTA members who pay non-member fees
  •  Students who are in high school or younger
  • Students will be entered solely by the teacher from whom they take lessons
  • Teachers may not enter students of other teachers under their own name
 
Fees Members:
  • Levels 1-5  =  $20/student
  • Levels 6-10 = $25/student
  • Levels 11-15 = $30/student
Fees Non-Members:
  • Levels 1-5  =  $25/student
  • Levels 6-10 = $30/student
  • Levels 11-15 = $40/student
  • Non-Member teachers are also charged a $20 non-member fee
 
Music:
  • Repertoire is announced each year on a repertoire list, found on the TVMTA website
  • All measures must be numbered
  • All music must be original (no copies)
  • Music printed from the public domain (example:  IMSLP) or from a sheet music CD is acceptable if properly documented at the top of the first page
  •  Repeats:  observe the instructions on the current Repertoire List
  • The Scarlatti sonata/sonatina is where students are encouraged to use their creativity during the repeated section regarding ornamentation, embellishments, etc.
  • Judges will follow these guidelines
 
Teacher Responsibilities:
  •  Upon entering a student in the Sonatina Competition, teachers will notify the chairman of any scheduling conflicts that would prevent the student from participating in the competition. An effort will be made to accommodate those schedule requests if an alternative is available. There is no guarantee that adjustments can be made to the schedule. All teachers are advised to notify participating students to be prepared for any assigned time throughout the day.
  • All teachers who enter students in the competition will volunteer for a half-day on the day of the competition or accept assignments on committees.
  • Preferences for volunteering duties/times are to be noted in the on-line registration process.
  •   Teachers who are unavailable on the day of the event will provide an adult substitute (non-participant) to fill in their place.
 
Competition:
  • The competition is divided into 15 piano solo levels of increasing difficulty, with Levels 1 – 9 represented by one choice of piece.  Levels 10 - 15 will have two choices of piece.
  • Pieces will not be limited to classical repertoire or sonatinas/sonatas.
  • All music is to be performed by memory.
  • Students may enter just one level/event and are not required to advance from the previous year’s level.
  • Levels with large registrations are divided into sublevels, each group is judged individually.  Levels 11-15 will be capped at ten students in a group.  Other levels are capped at about 15 students.
  • Adjudicators work as objectively as possible without information of the students’ teacher names, ages or grades of students, etc.  Teachers are admonished to not approach the judges regarding specific students’ performance.
  • Students are judged by the edition from which they learned their piece by presenting their original music (no copies) to the judge at the time of the performance.
  • Students are assigned individual performance times for adjudication; each student performing for one adjudicator in a private room without audience.  Parents, families, teachers, etc. remain outside the studio to insure objectivity.  They are not allowed entry for any reason.  Door monitors are available to help a student with a pedal extender or footstool.
  • Two students from each group will be chosen to be “Sonatina Champions” and up to three additional students from each group may be chosen to receive Honorable Mention awards.
 
Results:
  • Results will be posted within an hour of the end of adjudication for each group and can be found on the bulletin boards on the first floor of the Morrison Center.  They will also be available on the TVMTA website.  Alternate posting will be communicated to the participating teachers via email (which teachers should communicate to parents and students.)
 
Honors Recital:
  • Two students from each group, the “sonatina champions,” will be chosen to perform in an evening Honors Recital.  The times of the Honors Recitals will be distributed with the schedules and posted with the results. The Honors Recitals are noncompetitive and are open to the public.
  • Choosing students to perform at the Honors Recital is at the discretion of the judges, and judges are given the option of not declaring a winner.
 
Awards:
  • All students receive a green participation ribbon following their preliminary performance.  Certificates of participation will be distributed to teachers after the event.
  • Sonatina Champions (two from each group) will be awarded trophies in a short awards ceremony following each recital. Honorable Mentions will be awarded red rosette ribbons at the Honors Recitals, but do not perform.
 
Sonatina Chair:  Amelia Audas, abamail@yahoo.com, 208-949-0598
 
Website:  http://www.treasurevalleymta.org/