September 16, 2025

Greetings from MMEA!

Congratulations to both of these outstanding directors and their schools for being selected to perform at the 88th Annual In-Service Workshop/Conference, January 27th-31st:  Joe Voga and the St. Joseph Christian Wind Band and Vanessa Parsons and Spectrum Choir from Maryville High School!

I hope you all have had a relaxing summer and are having a great start to your school year!  This letter is in regard to the All-District Auditions that will be held this fall.

All of the ensembles will again be using a Google Form registration.  All directors will need to register on the district website at www.nwmmea.net if they have not already done so. After you have done that, you will be able to register your students for the audition.

Here is how the process will work:

  1. Go to www.nwmmea.net, at the top of the page, click on the “Teachers: Register” link.
  2. Complete the information.  You will need to remember your password and login.  WE NEED ALL TEACHERS TO UPDATE THEIR INFORMATION if it has changed.
  3. After you have registered, you will need to click on the link for whatever level and discipline you are submitting students.  High School Band, High School Choir, Junior High Band, or Jazz Band.
  4. Roy Maxwell has the Google Form ready to fill out for each school’s entries.
  5. All of the entries for Band events must be submitted by October 29, 2025.

If you have a student who has a potential conflict with a state-level MSHSAA event (or a national event of musical merit) for November 1, 2025, you must complete and submit the Alternative Audition forms with a postmark date by October 26, 2025.  The form and information is available on the website.

Please take time to download and read the Vice President’s Letter for each of the ensembles in which your students will be participating.  Each letter will have pertinent information such as audition fees, payment methods, and processes that are specific to that particular group.  These letters can be found on the respective pages of the website.  Junior High Choir =Bob Schofer, High School Choir = Dustin McKinney, Junior High Band = Christine Chesney, High School Band = Daniel Long, and High School Jazz Band = Connor Callahan.  Also on the website, you will find a District Signature Sheet that MUST be read and signed by the student and parent(s) before the audition.  Please collect these from your students and bring them to the audition.

Remember – this year we have raised band and jazz band audition fees to $13 (from $11).

Any teachers listed for your school district who no longer teach there should be reported to me via e-mail IMMEDIATELY!  This will allow us to continue to update our NWMMEA Directory on our website.  My email is listed below!

Have a great school year!

All the best,

Dr. Matthew Bonsignore,

MMEA Northwest District #1 President

** I have attached some other relevant information for you, so please see/read all attachments below!

ELIGIBILITY FOR THE ALL-STATE AUDITION – 

  • Contact your Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) District Band Vice President for specific information concerning the All-District Band procedures in your district.
    • Each All-District Band sets the policies for its respective district.
    • This would include audition dates, audition materials, audition fees, policies, and procedures.
  • Any student wishing to audition for or perform with the Missouri All-State Band must be a member “in good standing” with their All-District Band.
    • “In good standing” shall be defined by guidelines established at the district level and includes attendance at all rehearsals and performances.
  • Each district designates who is eligible to audition for the Missouri All-State Band, including alternates.
    • Membership in a conference band, county band, etc., does NOT make a student eligible to audition for the Missouri All-State Band.
  • Any student wishing to audition for or perform with the Missouri All-State Band must be a member of their high school band (if one exists) and must presently be in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
  • Students must be eligible for interscholastic music activities according to the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) bylaws. MSHSAA By-Law 4.2.3.
  • No student may participate in district or state events if they are not accompanied and supervised by a  CERTIFIED representative (music instructor, teacher, or administrator) of that student’s school.

MSHSAA By-Law 1.3.1 Each school shall be responsible for supervising its students at all interscholastic music activities. A school faculty member or school administrator from each participating school must accompany participants at the district and state music festivals. Entries that participate in the district or state music festivals without a faculty member or administrator in attendance at the festival shall be disqualified.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. I have included both my work email as well as the Missouri Bandmasters email. Although I check both, I will see my school email more often.

Listed below are some important dates for the All-State Band process.

In addition, there is a message from MoASTA regarding the Missouri All-State Orchestra. Thank you!

All-State Band Dates!! Mark your calendars 😊

Registration for All-State Band opens: Tuesday, November 4th

Registration deadline for audition: Tuesday, November 25th at 11:59pm.

All-State Band auditions: Saturday, December 6th at Hickman High School

Audition cost: $20 per audition

All-State Band paperwork due: Tuesday, December 16th

All-State Band payments due: Tuesday, January 13th

MMEA All-State Band Rehearsals: Wednesday, January 28th thru Saturday, January 31st

All-State Band Performance: Saturday, January 31st

The following message is from MoASTA President, David Tourtellot, and MoASTA President-Elect, Aimee Veile.

Greetings educators,

I hope everyone has settled into the new school year. There are a few All-State Orchestra updates I wanted to share with all of you.

  • Auditions for the 2026 Missouri All-State Orchestra will be on Saturday, December 6th, 2025, at Muriel Williams Battle High School (located at 7575 East St. Charles Road, Columbia, MO 65202). Please take note that this is a different location from where All-State Orchestra auditions have been held in the past several years.
  • CLICK HERE for audition registration. After you submit the registration form, you will receive a confirmation email – please be sure that you have received this, otherwise your students may not be registered.
  • This year, we are on Set 2. Audition materials and reference recordings can be found by clicking here. While the scales and excerpts of set 2 have not changed from previous cycles, we have updated the formatting for legibility. Please communicate to your students and any private teachers in your area that students should be using the updated materials currently on the MoASTA website for their audition.
  • The All-State Orchestra will need a harp this year. Harp auditions will be done online. If you have a harpist at your school, please encourage them to audition!
  • If you have any questions, please email Missouri.allstate.orchestra@gmail.com

Thank you so much! I’ll be in touch soon. Best wishes for an amazing marching band season!

With gratitude and Service-

Julie Swope

West Middle School

Director of Bands

Fine Arts Department Chair

Hello all,

I am emailing you to send you information about the first annual CHS Middle School Band Large Group Festival. The Festival will take place Saturday, April 25th, between 8am and 3pm in the Gary Dickinson Fine and Performing Art Center–located at Chillicothe High School. Please have all entries registered by April 1st. Due to limitations with scheduling, entries received after this date may not be scheduled.

The entry fee is $50 per event. Registration is ONLINE ONLY. To register, go to the link below and make a copy of the form.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cC3RVGBxGpeGT4W-oKgV1yxRUlkCz8Nc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100898282439037062276&rtpof=true&sd=true

Once completed, send me the completed entry form (jcookinham@chillicotheschools.org). Please send payment through mail to the following address:

Chillicothe High School
In Care of James Cookinham
2801 Hornet Drive
Chillicothe, Missouri 64601

You may also bring payment to the registration table the day of the festival. Checks are to be made out to CHS Band. If you require an invoice, please indicate that via email immediately after completing your registration.

Certificates will be given for each event on the rating system of I-Superior and II-Excellent

The festival is open to all Junior High/Middle School bands in grades 5-8. We are not offering choral judging this year.

Photocopied music is illegal and prohibited. Two judge scores will need to be provided.

The following percussion instruments will be provided by Gallatin: Bass drum, 4.3 octave marimba, 3.5 octave xylophone, 3.5 octave vibraphone, snare drum bells, chimes, and timpani (4). Percussionists must provide their own snare, mallets, beaters, cymbals, and auxiliary equipment. Only yarn mallets are permissible for performance on the marimba.

As always if you have questions, feel free to contact us with the information below! We look forward to your participation and thank you for your time! Sincerely,

James Cookinham

Assistant Band Director, Chillicothe R-II School District

Vice-President Elect of Jazz Bands, MMEA District #1

I hope everyone has had a relaxing summer, had the chance to spend time with family, and get recharged.

With a new year, we will have new teachers in our Northwest District.  We all know that feeling of excitement and fear as a new teacher.  MMEA wants to help support our new teachers.

If you are new to the profession or know someone new in your area, please contact me at almmlm91@gmail.com.  MMEA has developed a nationally recognized Mentoring Program, and we want to make sure that everyone who wants to participate has the opportunity.  This program includes monthly Zoom Meetings on a variety of topics.  These are great opportunities to ask questions of veteran teachers, to visit with other new teachers and to share the struggles that we all have.  As soon as those meetings are scheduled, I will be sure to let you all know.

The 10th annual Mentoring Conference will take place at Tan Tar A on September 14th and 15th.   This conference is for 1st-3rd year teachers or anyone new to the profession.  It covers a variety of topics, including classroom management, budgeting, and developing relationships with parents and administration.  There is no registration fee, and meals will be provided.  Participants will have to pay for lodging.  Look for an email from MMEA with registration information and more information concerning specific workshops and clinics.

It can be very intimidating to be new to the profession.  Veteran teachers shared many of the same concerns as new teachers that you are feeling now.  Please reach out to them.  We have ALL been new and want to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made.  Don’t be afraid you are being “judged” and wait until you are “ready” to have someone into your room.  That is like not going to the gym until you are in better shape.  We are all more than willing to come out and watch and listen.  Sometimes it’s nice just to have a sympathetic ear.

If you are new to the district, make sure you register with our website https://nwmmea.net/.  There you will find information on our District events and registration involved with those events.  You will also find contact information for our officers and other teachers in the district.

If you are an experienced teacher, please reach out to those new to your area.  You don’t need any special training; you just need to be a good person who is willing to give support to a fellow educator.

Good luck to all and have a great year!!!!

Roy Maxwell,

NWMMEA Mentoring Chair