In this article, you will find information for Vance Music students about the WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival:
- WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival Date
- Location & Google Map Links
- Visual Map & Corresponding Printable Link
- Teacher Availability
- Who Can Attend
- Festival Etiquette
- Festival Timeline & Performance Schedule
WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival Basics
Saturday, April 12th, 2025
Wichita State University
- Building: Duerksen Fine Arts Center
- Google Map for WSU’s Duerksen Fine Arts Center
- Printable Map (as seen below) for WSU’s Duerksen Fine Arts Center
If you have questions about the WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival after reading the rest of the article, please contact Marissa
A Special Note Regarding Teacher Availability & Preparation
At the WMMTA Spring Scholarship Festival, Vance Music teachers will be working as festival volunteers. In addition, some students belonging to the same teacher have been scheduled simultaneously in different rooms. Your teacher may not be available to hear you perform, and likely will not be able to help you check in or warm up.
Please read this article carefully so you are prepared for the festival! Several details are different from other festivals this season.
Who Can Attend The WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival
Students are welcome to invite family and friends to the 2025 WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival. Students wishing to perform in the festival in the future are welcome to attend the Finalists’ Recital to get an idea of what to expect.
WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival Etiquette
- At Home
- Practice getting set to play: quickly adjusting your bench, setting your hands, taking a breath, and thinking your tempo. Once you’re in the performance room, you don’t want to make the judge wait for you.
- Prepare your music:
- Make sure your name and phone number are written inside the front cover of your book(s).
- Know the order of your songs. Plan on playing the pieces in chronological order.
- If you are playing more than one song from the same book, mark each page for the judge by adding a tab or post-it note.
- Make sure measure numbers are written in red ink above each bar line.
- Erase all practice marks you do not wish the judge to see.
- No photocopies are allowed at festival.
- In The Practice Rooms
- Limit your time in the practice room to 5 minutes, regardless of song length. This time is meant only as a warm-up; you may not have time to practice your entire performance.
- In The Halls
- Be courteous to all other participants, college students, and college staff by being quiet.
- No running inside the building.
- Parents should accompany students in the building.
- In The Performance Rooms
- Be silent in the performance rooms.
- Do not distract students or judges.
- Turn off cell phones and electronic devices before entering.
- Turn off flash photography and camera sound effects before entering.
- Applaud performers when they are finished with their performance, rather than after each individual song.
- Only enter/exit performance rooms during applause or while students are moving on/off the stage.
- Parents are welcome to video record their student’s performance. Make sure the recording device is silent and will not distract performers, judges, or audience members.
- Be courteous to festival staff and judges. Thank them for their help and time!
WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival Procedure
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival: Preliminary Rounds
- 30 minutes before you perform, check in at the registration table. Show the festival staff your music, with the measure numbers clearly marked. Double-check your performance room number and time.
- 20 minutes before you perform, find a practice room. You may need to wait for an available room. Limit your warm-up to 5 minutes so the piano is available for other students. Prepare physically and mentally for your performance.
- 10 minutes before you are scheduled to perform, arrive at your performance room. Check in with the room monitor and give them your music, open to the correct page(s).
- Wait quietly in the hall until it is your turn. Keep your conversation to a whisper, even if the door monitor or other parents & students do not.
- When the door monitor invites you to enter, go to the piano. Adjust your bench and check your position.
- Wait for the judge to indicate that they are ready. (You will not warm up or announce at this festival, unless specifically asked to do so by the judge.)
- Get set, breathe, and perform your first song.
- Drop your hands to your lap. (The audience should not applaud at this point, but if they do, cue them by putting your hands back on the keys and waiting for them to finish.)
- Reset yourself as needed, breathe, and perform your second song.
- Drop your hands to your lap.
- Stand, smile, and bow (first to the judge, then to the audience if they are not seated in the same area).
- Wait in the hall for the door monitor to return your music. Do not leave without your music!
2:15 PM
WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival: Finalists Recital
The Finalists Recital will take place in Room C-107. All Vance Music students should return for this recital to support their fellow students and learn from peer performances. Family and friends are also invited to attend.
The WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival staff will announce up to 3 winners in each division, and may also present honorable mention awards. If you are chosen as a winner, you will perform one piece in the recital. Choose the piece you think you play the best:
- When it is your turn to perform, go to the piano. If the audience applauds, thank them with a smile and a bow.
- You will not warm up nor announce, unless festival staff asks you to do so.
- Check your bench position.
- Get set, breathe, and perform your song.
- Smile and bow.
At the close of the recital, please take time to thank judges and festival organizers for their hard work.
Post Festival
Collecting Comments Sheets
Comments sheets will be distributed at the end of the finalists recital. Bring your comments sheet to your next lesson so your teacher can talk through them with you and add them to your student file.
Thank Judges & Staff
Take time to re-introduce yourself to the judges and staff, and to thank them for their help and time.
Celebrate & Take A Picture!
Take a celebratory picture or two of your student(s) and email them to Marissa. We’ll celebrate students’ performances in the festival on our social media, bulletin board, and annual presentation at the Christmas recital.
As this is the last piano festival of this season, congratulate students on all of their hard work! Here are some ways we saw students grow this season:
- Students grew in confidence as they performed in various locations and situations.
- Students grew in technical music skills as they worked to prepare difficult pieces.
- Students grew in social and communicative skills as they supported and congratulated one another.
- Students grew in time management skills as they prepared multiple songs for multiple festivals.
Have fun performing at the WMMTA 2025 Spring Scholarship Auditions Festival!
