Understanding the OSAA Music State Championships

For those of you I have not had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Molly Hays and I oversee Cheer, Choir and Tennis for the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) I was brought on board when Mike Wallmark retired after 25 years of service

In terms of the Music State Championships our office runs, Cindy Simmons oversees Band and Orchestra Kyle Stanfield oversees Solo Music, and as previously mentioned I oversee Choir All of us are excited for these new responsibilities, and now, after having been through our Music State Championships last year, want to help you understand how our Music State Championships run

Role of the State Championship Director

Each OSAA Music State Championship has a State Championship Director Currently the State Championship Directors are: Tom Muller— Solo Music, Dr Matt Strauser—Choir, and Charles “Chuck” Bolton—Band and Orchestra

Some of the duties of our State Championship Directors include, but are not limited to, the following:

™ Contact and confirm State Championship adjudicators

™ Contact and confirm sight-reading composer(s)

™ Handle requests in regards to required literature selection exceptions

™ Coordinate and organize the flow of the event .

Our State Championship Directors are instrumental, no pun intended, in organizing our State Championships .

Role of the OSAA

The OSAA office manages on-line registration, oversees the Tape Pool process, and sets the performance schedule The OSAA is also responsible for contacting and confirming the venue, setting the date, time and divisions, and finally making sure our patrons have an enjoyable experience Ultimately our office is responsible for putting on the State Championships, but we certainly could not do it without our State Championship Directors!

Tape Pool Process

Choirs, Bands and Orchestras that meet the qualifying standards set-forth in the OSAA Music Handbook are to submit a tape to the OSAA office by the registration deadline Once the deadline is reached, all tapes are organized and placed into packets before being shipped to an out-ofstate adjudicator Upon selecting the choirs that will perform at State, the adjudicator contacts the OSAA to inform them of their selections .

Out-of-state adjudicators are used on a rotational basis to prevent any kind of bias toward a particular group In turn, the OSAA chooses to protect the names of the individuals used as Tape Pool Adjudicators, as well as the sight-reading music composers This is not to keep Directors in the dark, but rather to protect the integrity and efforts put forth by these individuals

In Closing

Molly Hays OSAA Event Coordinator

503.682.6722 x 233

Our job is to answer any question a Director or School Administrator may have Whether the question is in regards to qualifying, registration, performance time, or something else, we encourage you to email or call us with any question you may have regarding our State Championships If we do not have an immediate answer for you, we will find out and get back to you as soon as possible

Thank you for your support of Oregon High School activities! I hope to hear from you in the near future