Instrumental Rules

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The festival will be held April 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2016 at the Kelowna
Community Theatre,  the Rotary Centre for the Arts, and the Streaming Cafe. 

The festival often fills up before the official deadline. Please register early. 

Registration fees are $300.00 per group.All cheques should be made payable to
"B.C. Interior Jazz Festival". Registrations are now completed online. 
Please note the new mailing address for festival registration payments:

BC Interior Jazz Festival
PO Box 21111 Orchard Park
Kelowna BC
V1Y 9N8
 
The only additional cost incurred for festival participants will be for the Friday
evening Jazz Masters Concert. This evening concert fee (for participants, directors,
and chaperones) is only $15, which is half the ticket price for the general public.
 
Before you register, please read these guidelines.

Guidelines and Rules for Instrumental Groups


Instrumental Jazz


JAZZ BAND AND COMBO PERFORMANCE CLASSES:
The festival offers participation in the following performance classes:

Senior I: All members of the performing group must be registered in Grade 12 
or lower as of January 1,  the year of the festival.  Each member must also be
currently enrolled in a secondary school or schools taught by the same director
represented during the current school year. This is equivalent to the Musicfest  A301
category. 

Intermediate II: All members of the performing group must be 16 years
of age or less as of January 1,  the year of the festival, or be registered in
grade 11 (grade 11 students older than 17 years still qualify as Intermediate).
Each member must also be enrolled in the secondary school, or schools taught by
the same director represented during the current school year. No members may be
registered in a grade higher than 11. This is equivalent to the Musicfest A401 category.

Junior III: All members of the performing group must be 15 years of
age or less as of the year of the festival, or be registered in grade 10 (grade
10 students older than 15 years still qualify as Junior III).  Each member must
also be enrolled in the secondary school, or schools taught by the same
director represented during the current school year. No members may registered in a 
grade higher than 10. This is equivalent to the Musicfest A501 category.

Junior IV: All members of the performing group must be 14 years of age
or less as of January 1, the year of the  festival, or be registered in grade 9
(grade 9 students older than 14 years still qualify as Junior IV). Each member 
must also be enrolled in the secondary school, or schools taught by the same
director represented during the current school  year. No members may registered in a 
grade higher than 9. This is equivalent to the Musicfest A601 category.

Junior V: All members of the performing group must be 13 years of age
or less as of January 1 the year of the  festival, or be registered in grade 8
(grade 8 students older than 13 years still qualify as Junior V).  Each member
must  also be enrolled in the secondary school, or schools taught by the same
director represented during the current school year.  No members may registered in a 
grade higher than 8. This is equivalent to the Musicfest A701 category.

The festival permits exceptions to the above category rules in order to encourage
groups to perform even when their membership does not fit easily into the above
classification guidelines. For instance, your school may have a Grade 10-12 Jazz
band, and your band may have only a single Grade 12 student. Perhaps your group
contains one or two students from a grade level above in order to fill empty seats in 
the ensemble. Please contact the festival coordinator in order to find the best
performance classification for your group if you do not feel comfortable with the
standard MusicFest Canada guidelines.

Outstanding ensembles in all of the foregoing classes who have performed at a
regional festival, have met all entry regulations, may be eligible for an invitation to
compete at the national festival, MusicFest Canada.  Each year, the BC Interior
Jazz Festival receives approximately 16 invitations from Musicfest Canada to be 
awarded to performing groups on the basis of merit. These invitations will be given 
to select groups who earn gold rating at the festival.


JAZZ BAND AND INSTRUMENTAL COMBO REGULATIONS:

1. All performance classes (I - V) should be prepared to perform in the
Saturday evening Showcase Concert. Failure to participate (if asked to do so)
may render the group ineligible to receive an invitation to MusicFest Canada. 
Invited groups are asked to perform one selection. Groups will not be advised of
anything (marks, possible invitation to the Showcase Concert, etc.) until the
completion of their particular category of involvement (Junior IV Jazz Band, Senior
Vocal Jazz, etc.).

2. It is recommended that Jazz bands conform to the standard instrumentation
of 8-10 brass, 5 woodwinds, and 3-6 rhythm. Deviation from standard
instrumentation will be judged on the performance’s musical merits. Use
of doubling (on flute and clarinet) in the sax section is encouraged.

3. It is suggested that at no time will fewer than 12 or more than 24
performers be on stage during any single selection. Individual performers may
not replace others on stage during the performance of a selection; no additional
performers may enter the stage once a selection has begun. Groups deviating
from standard instrumentation will be judged on their musical merits as would
any other competing band. Combos must have no fewer than three members 
and no more than eleven members.

4. On-stage time is limited to 25 minutes. Please respect our performance
times so we can keep the festival running efficiently.

5. A group’s performance must include three pieces, conforming to the
following style choices:

1)  a swing or shuffle style,

2)  a ballad style, and

3)  a style of own choice (a contrasting style is encouraged, though a second
swing, shuffle, or ballad could be chosen).

All groups are permitted to perform only three pieces within the 25 minute
on-stage time limit. Instrumental groups (including combos) not performing
a ballad and a swing selection will be ineligible for invitation to the Showcase
Concert and to MusicFest Canada.

6. Selections featuring a vocalist are permitted. Combos featuring a vocalist on a
single tune are adjudicated as instrumental combos and will be held to instrumental
combo criteria.

7. A maximum of six microphones will be provided, and microphone placement
directions should be indicated on the seating plan which is submitted to the
registration desk upon arrival at the festival site. If microphone placement is not
accurately indicated on the seating plan and microphones need to be rearranged on
stage, this may cause the festival to run behind schedule.

8. Ensembles must bring all instruments and equipment other than that
specifically provided by the Festival, which is as follows: acoustic piano;
keyboard, amp, and stand; guitar and bass amps; drum set; congas; timbales;
vibes; chairs and music stands.  Drummers may substitute or add cymbals, snare drums,
and bass drum pedals.  No equipment may be removed from the stage. PA system will be
provided in the performance area only. Not all equipment is available in the warm-up and
adjudication rooms. Adding or replacing equipment counts against a group's on-stage time.

9. Please note that conductor scores are not required for jazz band or combo
participants at the BC Interior Jazz Festival. 


PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

25 minutes warm-up

25 minutes on stage

25 minutes private adjudication