Mailing Requirements
Please review the mailing requirements carefully – they are different for each discipline, and failure to follow the instructions can result in disqualification.

Evaluation Criteria
Evaluations of submissions in music are based on the following elements of performance (for composition, see below):

Tone Production – the ability to achieve a quality of sound appropriate to the instrument and to the style of the music.

Technique – the degree to which the performer has acquired control of the instrument.

Rhythm – the ability to establish, maintain, and project rhythms of a wide range of complexity.

Intonation – proper tuning of the instrument and in tune playing.

Interpretation – the ability to project a convincing conception of the selection.

Phrasing – sensitivity to the need for phrasing and the ability to execute it.

Evaluation Criteria for Composition
Musical Ideas – the quality of the musical material on which the composition is based.

Musical Structure – the extent to which an underlying structure exists and is apparent.

Control of Medium – understanding of and idiomatic use of voices and instruments.

What Panelists Look For
"Present the music and what you feel it all means, and what that means to you."

"Make obvious your sincerity and enthusiasm for the music and the art of performance."

"Perform as if nothing else really matters for those few moments in your life."

"Participants should exemplify the best of the best – in other words the future pioneers in the creative and performing arts."

"Radiate sincerity and enthusiasm for what you are doing."