chorus1_slider 540x260The Long Island Music Festivals are exciting and fun educational opportunities for elementary, middle, and high school student musical ensembles, right here on Long Island. As fellow music educators, our goal is to bring students and adjudicators together in a positive learning environment.

The festival day is comprised of a performance component paired with a recreational activity. The performance session starts with a warm up period in a practice room. Students then move to a performance space for an adjudication session lasting approximately 20 minutes, during which a panel of experienced music educators will record their comments. One of the adjudicators will then conduct a clinic with the ensemble, focusing and expanding on a musical aspect of the student’s performance. The adjudicators award each ensemble with a non-competitive ranking: Very Good, Excellent, or Superior. Each group is given a trophy corresponding to the evaluation rank.

After the educational component, ensembles then proceed to an afternoon of fun at a local museum or amusement park!

What makes the Long Island Music Festivals a unique educational and recreational experience for your students?

    • Our judges share our philosophy that the Long Island Music Festivals should be a positive learning experience for students, one that fosters a life-long love of music rather than harshly criticizes and discourages.
    • Our festivals are close to home, right here on Long Island, so many hours of traveling in expensive coach buses won’t be necessary – the entire trip can be easily accomplished in one day during reasonable hours.
    • We offer an educational clinic experience for each participating ensemble, during which one of our experienced judges will work with your students to focus and expand on an aspect of their performance.
    • You may choose the recreational activity that best suits your students and school district, whether it’s an amusement park or museum visit. Festival fees are determined according to activity, so there are activities for a range of budgets.
    • Teachers needn’t dread the thought of an exhausting time juggling tuning and warming up students – we have college music students available that will help you out – they’ll even take over the task if you’re bringing more than one ensemble!
    • Once your performance and clinic sessions are done, you’ll receive your festival ranking and trophy right away, so that you’re free to leave for your recreational activity without worrying about making a scheduled awards ceremony later in the day.