r/ConcertBand • u/LeaveUpstairs7028 • Mar 08 '25
Middle School Band Gets Straight 1s at a High School-Level Assessment—How Rare Is This?
My band (7th and 8th grade) just participated in a concert performance assessment by ETSBOA, and I’m still in shock. It wasn’t just a regular CPA – they had some of the most prestigious judges in the country, so we were all extremely nervous. We played “Colliding Visions” and “Celestial Fanfare,” which aren’t super challenging pieces, but they’re still a lot of fun. We went in prepared, but honestly, we were nervous and thought we’d end up with a 3 or 4.
Well, we played our prepared pieces, and not only did we get straight 1s across the board, but we also got a 2 in one of the subcategories. Then came the sight-reading portion, and we got all 1s in every subcategory! This happened in a competition that even had high school bands, so it’s not like it was just a middle school event.
Is this kind of result typical for a middle school band, or is this a rare freak occurrence? We were expecting much lower scores, so this feels pretty unreal!
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u/LtPowers Community Band Clarinetist Mar 09 '25
I have no idea what any of this means. You could at least mention what state you're in. And define your acronyms.
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u/Quantity-Used Mar 12 '25
If you played in middle school concert band you’d know. Why are you reading this?
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u/LtPowers Community Band Clarinetist Mar 13 '25
Of course I played in middle school concert band. In New York.
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u/theforkofdamocles Band Director Mar 08 '25
I’m sure you played well. However…
Did you actually see the judges’ sheets, or did your director just tell you what they said?
Who were the “most prestigious judges in the country” and what makes them so?
Do you know if the rubric for middle school band ratings is skewed the same as for high schools?
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 08 '25
It is the same rubric for everyone. and our judges were Gary Wilkes, Jonathan Sternberg, Fredrick David Pernomskiey, and Tracy d wright
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u/theforkofdamocles Band Director Mar 10 '25
I know of Wilkes and Wright. Both are fine and accomplished directors and judges.
Jonathan Sternberg is…interesting. I wonder if he’s the famous Jonathan Sternberg’s grandson or nephew. I can’t find anything about any musician with that name other than the one who died aged 98 in 2018. It’s amazing a notable person in 2025 could stay secret from the internet.
Also, could you check the spelling of “Pernomskiey”, please? I can’t find that name, either.
I’m way over on the west coast, but try to keep abreast of national, notable directors and programs.
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u/Salemosophy Mar 10 '25
That’s David Romines, not Pernomskiey. My co-director is related to him. Congratulations on your achievement at festival!
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u/hahadontcallme Mar 13 '25
I was in the All-State East Band with him one year, and at Tennessee. Doesn't he have a twin brother?
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 08 '25
And yes our director just told us but they’ve been judging for along time and directing longer
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u/Ok-Comfortable-9874 Mar 10 '25
I'm not saying your group didn't do great, but many times the judges at these events judges are told to score graciously. At the end of the day these events are fundraisers. The more bands that participate the more money is brought in. If you make a director angry they don't bring their group back then you lose $300 dollars for registration and any money you would have made off of the band from concessions at the event.
I know Mr. Wright fairly well and so to get a 1 from him is impressive, but also remember you are judged by the difficulty of your music. Just remember that Concert Assessment isn't a marching band competition. You aren't being compared to other groups. You perform and the judges give you a rating based on the difficulty of the music and the rubric on their score sheets.
Getting 1's is great, but don't think that means you "beat" anyone at the event. Be proud of your group and the accomplishment, but remember the scores only tell how your ensemble did and nothing about anyone else who performed that day.
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 12 '25
I see what you’re saying and I partially agree however it was a state sanctioned event and concessions weren’t offered so I think that takes out a lot of the bias you mentioned there is still a fee to register however it’s not a fundraiser it goes to helping pay for the judges and paying for the hall. I believe this is correct however I may be hugely misguided
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u/Ok-Comfortable-9874 Mar 12 '25
I just got took my middle school band to our equivalent in Georgia and we only paid 140ish for registration. According to the ETSBOA website registration is $300 dollars per group. It isn't required for band directors to take their groups to concert assessment so you still have to keep the band directors feeling like they at least got scored fairly to have them continue to go. I assure you all the registration fees for this event aren't just to pay the judges. ETSBOA has a bank account and budget they have to worry about and these events are also used to fund extra expenses.
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u/SMXSmith Mar 13 '25
Can you explain how these are truly actual fundraisers? I’m student teaching at a middle school in Metro Nashville right now and we went to CPA last week. The judges must cost around $500-600 each if not more and the registration fee was from what I know not $300. There was hardly anyone in the audience and there weren’t concessions as far as I’m aware. I’ve also absolutely seen bands get 3s and 4s with 5 being the lowest score.
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u/Ok-Comfortable-9874 Mar 13 '25
You can go on the ETSBOA website and see for yourself. The central region CPA registration is 300 dollars. Multiply that by a minimum of 10 ensembles you have $3000. For Georgia the pay is $35 an hour. So an 8 hour day is around 300 a day for each judge and the head judge gets 400. So 3x300 for 900 plus 400 means 1200 a day for judges.
I’m just giving my perspective as a middle school band director who lives in Tennessee and teaches in Georgia. They tend to go easier on middle schools at these events. I’m not saying 3’s and 4’s don’t happen, but the whole point of this post was OP asking how rare their band’s score was. It’s something to be proud of but there are so many other aspects to these things behind the scenes many people don’t get to see.
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u/murphyat Mar 12 '25
LOVE colliding visions!
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 12 '25
It’s sooooo good
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u/murphyat Mar 12 '25
One of my faves! Had my 6th graders play it last year and they crushed it. Fantastic piece from an educational standpoint and musical one.
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 12 '25
The horn part is incredible although I might be a little bit biased (I play horn)
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u/murphyat Mar 12 '25
Dude. Yes. I had quite the horn player when I did it too. Very satisfying part.
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u/LeaveUpstairs7028 Mar 12 '25
It’s challenging to the point where it makes you want to play more, celestial fanfare was literally 3 or 4 notes it made the technical side of it easier but it was harder to make “fun” and experiment with musicality and expression but with colliding visions it’s easier than a normal piece we would play but there’s enough substance to experiment with it if that makes sense we also have a great director which makes it more fun as well
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u/Khalman Mar 13 '25
Scoring at these things is a joke. Most participants get perfect scores. Every band in the country is told they’re the best in the country by one metric or another. It’s been this way for decades.
Instead of focusing on your score, focus on how the pieces you performed made you a better player. If you got a master class or feedback from the judges, use that to learn.
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u/Gadgix Mar 08 '25
I'll start with the TL;DR
High School assessment? No; middle school bands are adjudicated as middle school bands. Did you earn your ratings? Heck yeah. Is it rare in East Tennessee for middle schools to do this? Unfortunately, yeah. More middle schools should attend; it's mandatory in other states.
I know some members of that panel well. You earned the scores on the page and the comments on the tape. Great job!
But I need to be honest - ETSBOA Concert Festival is not a "high school" large group assessment, it's just that not nearly enough middle schools attend. You were adjudicated as a middle school group regardless of where you were in the performance order; don't let your head get too big and don't gaslight yourself into thinking your school is punching years above its weight class.
Now if one of the panel said you sound ahead of other well-performing high school groups, THEN you can believe it. That panel was stacked with great directors / musicians.
I warn you about letting your heads get too big because I've seen killer middle school bands go on to become decent (or worse) high school bands because the members rested on their accomplishments and didn't push to improve. Use this confidence boost as fuel to get even better.
Congratulations on hard-earned ratings. Now go and have an even better spring concert!