Salute To Youth – A Solo and Ensemble Festival

The Solo and Ensemble Festival is for all instrumental musicians (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano, and harp) age 20 and under in Cumberland County and adjacent counties.  Students may participate as a soloist and/or in an ensemble.  All students that enter will receive a voucher to attend Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra concerts.  Participants that receive a Superior rating will also receive an award, and the possibility of performing on a Fayetteville Symphony concert honoring the talented youth in our area.  A solo is one (1) musician with an accompanist (if possible).  An ensemble is 2 or more musicians, up to 12 musicians, with or without an accompanist.

Division Levels

Musicians will be divided into a Junior and Senior divisions according to age:

Junior Division – Age 14 and under or 8th grade and under
Senior Division – Age 15-20 or 9th grade and older

Music Levels

Participants may enter Junior or Senior division on six (6) grade levels designated according to music difficulty.  Each of the following levels will be open to any music student in Cumberland county and adjacent counties.

1 – Easy4 – Moderate Difficult
2 – Moderate Easy5 – Difficult
3 – Average6 – Very Difficult

Guideline to Determine Level:

Strings Guideline:

1 – EasySuzuki Book 1, Essential Elements Book 1, or equivalent
2 – Moderate EasySuzuki Book 2, Essential Elements Book 2, or equivalent
3 – AverageSuzuki Book 3 or equivalent
4 – Moderate DifficultSuzuki Book 4-5 or equivalent
5 – DifficultSuzuki Book 6-7 or equivalent
6 – Very DifficultConcerto Level (Suzuki book 8 and above or equivalent)

Woodwinds/Brass/Percussion Guideline:

1 – Easy1st year band
2 – Moderate Easy2nd year band
3 – Average3rd year band
4 – Moderate Difficult9th-10th grade band
5 – Difficult11th-12 grade band
6 – Very DifficultConcerto Level or College Level

Rating System:

The FSO Festival will use a five rating plan for judging all solos and ensembles:

I – Superior

II – Excellent

III – Average

IV – Fair

V – Poor

Rating ISuperior – The best possible performance.  Score = 96-100  
Rating IIExcellent – A performance of distinctive quality but not worth yof the highest rating due to minor defects in performance.  Score = 90-95  
Rating IIIAverage – A performance showing some accomplishment and promise but lacking in essential musical qualities.  Score = 80-89  
Rating IVFair – This is a performance that is weak and uncertain.  Score = 74-79  
Rating VPoor – A performance that reveals lack of preparedness and musical understanding.

Rating Sheets

The rating sheet of each performance will be emailed to the performer after the performances have been evaluated by the judges.

Awards

All students that participate will be given a voucher to attend a Fayetteville Symphony Concert.  Students that receive a I or Superior rating will receive an award.  Several students that receive Superior ratings will be chosen by the judges to perform their piece at a Fayetteville Symphony sponsored concert, honoring their achievement. 

Accompanist

While an accompanist is not required, we still strongly encourage all musicians to have an accompanist unless the performance piece is specifically written to be performed unaccompanied. 

Music for Adjudicators

A complete measure-numbered score for each ensemble or a measure-numbered solo for each soloist must be provided for the adjudicator.  Participants will be required to upload a scanned copy of the music in their application form. Failure to provide this music will result in a penalty of one rating lower.

Performance Information

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Solo and Ensemble Festival participation will occur virtually. All participants must record a maximum of ten (10) minutes of their chosen piece. In works that are more than ten (10) minutes, music may be appropriately cut.

Submission of your performance will require you to include a direct URL link to an unlisted YouTube video, Google Drive file, or Dropbox file in your application form. Please make sure that the settings of your video allow viewers with the link to view the video.

Festival Application Deadline and Fees

Solo Application fee = $20

Ensemble Application fee = $35

The Solo and Ensemble Festival application is now closed.

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Featured Musician

Quintin Mallette – Percussion

Quintin Mallette is a dynamic percussionist dedicated to exploring new and underrepresented voices in percussion through performance, commissioning and research. Quintin is currently a section percussionist with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and has performed with various orchestras and chamber groups across the southeast including the North Carolina Symphony, Carolina Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, and Verge Ensemble. As an educator, he has presented clinics at the Georgia Music Educators Association State Convention, NC Day of Percussion, Georgia College Day of Percussion, as well as various high schools and universities throughout Central and Eastern United States. As a strong supporter of new music, he has recently commissioned several new solo and chamber works by rising composers including Jonathan Bingham, Jennifer Jolly, Molly Joyce, Shruthi Rajasekar, Juri Seo, Finola Merivale, Aeryn Santillan, Susanna Hancock, and Emma O’Halloran through the Everybody Hits! and Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Consortiums. Additional performing interests include electroacoustic music with a special interest in the vibraphone as highlighted through commissioning projects with Von Hansen and Paul Lansky, and Alex Dowling. Quintin is published in Percussive Notes, the official research journal of the Percussive Arts Society, as both an author and reviewer. He currently serves on the scholarly-research committee of the Percussive Arts Society, is co-chair of the research committee for the Vibraphone Project, and serves on the Racial Diversity sub-committee within the PAS Diversity Alliance. Quintin will be joining the faculty of East Carolina University in the Fall of 2022. Prior to this he has served on the faculties of Fayetteville State University, Barton College, and the University of Mount Olive. He received his DMA and MM from the University of Georgia and his BM from Howard University. His Primary teachers include Mr. Timothy Adams Jr, Ms. Kimberly Toscano Adams, Mr. William (Bill) Richards II, Dr. Janis Potter, Dr. Jonathan Wacker, and Mr. Chris Nappi. He currently resides in Greenville, NC with his wife Jacquelyn and three kids Cadence, Dorian, and Ellington. Quintin is a proud endorser of Pearl/Adams instruments and Vic Firth sticks and mallets.

To Educate. To Entertain. To Inspire.

The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1956 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is a professional, regional orchestra whose mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire the citizens of the Fayetteville, North Carolina region as the leading musical resource.  Praised for its artistic excellence, the Symphony leads in the cultural and educational landscape for Fayetteville and the southeastern North Carolina region.

The Fayetteville Symphony typically performs 8 concerts during any given season performing both at Methodist University and Fayetteville State University. Partnerships with other agencies include collaborative performances with Cape Fear Regional Theatre, chamber concerts at St. John’s Episcopal Church, as well as the city’s annual Independence concert with fireworks. The Symphony brings music to the schools and the community by performing educational concerts, as well as having its own Fayetteville Symphony Youth Orchestra, after school strings and summer music camps.

This organization is supported in part by a space grant from the BB&T Term Endowment of Cumberland Community Foundation, Inc.


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