Student Information Packet Dear Festival of Winds Student, Let me be the first to congratulate you on your selection to participate in Opus 35 of the Festival of Winds at the University of South Florida! Your band director has recommended you based on the outstanding musical ability and leadership you have demonstrated every day. Clearly, you ve got what it takes to make great music, and this Festival will offer you the opportunity to take your music making to the next level not to mention the opportunity to spend 4 fantastic days on a university campus, having fun, making new friends and life-long memories! Over the next few pages of this packet, you will find important Festival information, including an important list of what to bring. Please print out this entire packet to read and share with your parents and/or guardians. The packet will answer a variety of questions, but should you have any further questions, contact your band director. Your band director will then contact us, and we will help out in every way possible. Again, congratulations on your acceptance into the Festival! I wish you the best over the next month as you prepare for what will be one of the most rewarding and valuable events in your high school career. I look forward to meeting you all in December! Sincerely, Adam Hollenbeck Festival Coordinator, Opus 35 Page 1
Deadline for Registration and Payment Before your participation in the Festival of Winds can be confirmed, we must receive your payment by Friday, October 30 th. There are three different plans, which are as follows: Plan A - $169.00 dollars Plan B - $210.00 dollars Plan C - $135.00 dollars Four persons to a room. This includes housing, bus transportation between the hotel and scheduled Festival sites, dinner and activity on Friday night, Lunch on Sunday afternoon, a specially designed FOW Opus 35 T-shirt, an FOW Opus 35 Patch, and a CD recording of the Grand Finale concert. Two persons to a room. This includes housing bus transportation between the hotel and scheduled Festival sites, dinner and activity on Friday night, Lunch on Sunday afternoon, a specially designed FOW Opus 35 T-shirt, an FOW Opus 35 Patch, and a CD recording of the Grand Finale concert. If you are planning to commute instead of staying at the hotel, the participation fee will be $135.00. This includes dinner and activity on Friday night, Lunch on Sunday afternoon, a specially designed FOW Opus 35 T-shirt, an FOW Opus 35 Patch, and a CD recording of the Grand Finale concert. We will only be accepting check/money order payment. A late fee of $25 dollars will be assessed if the payment is not received by Friday October 30 th, so register immediately and secure your spot in the Festival of Winds! The final deadline is November 13 th. Festival Guidelines and Medical Release Form These forms must be printed out, completed, and submitted on the day of the Festival. You may download these forms online from our website, http://festivalofwinds.arts.usf.edu. They can be found under Festival Forms on the left hand menu. The Festival Guidelines form lists several policies of the Festival that must be followed while participating in the Festival of Winds. Make sure the appropriate signatures are on them! Without these forms, you cannot participate in the Festival! Do not let a lack of a signature keep you from having a great time at Festival of Winds. Make sure both your parent/guardian and band director sign the Festival Guidelines form. Again, if you do not present the completed forms when you come to register, you will not be allowed to participate. Page 2
Hotel Accommodations This year, students will be staying at the Embassy Suites Hotel located on campus off of Fowler Ave.! Please note that this location is different than last year s. The address for the hotel is: 3705 Spectrum Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33612. The phone number for the hotel is: 813-977- 7066 To ensure that your Festival experience is as fun and easy as possible, you are allowed to select roommates (up to 3 for Plan A, or one roommate for Plan B). You may make your selections on the registration form. Please check and confirm that the people you choose to be roommates with will agree to share a room with you. This removes any awkward situations between you and your friends! No male students will be allowed to share a room with female students, and vice- versa. If you choose Plan A or B, staying with family members at the hotel is not permitted. This is non- negotiable. Chaperones for the hotel will be provided by: ΦMA, the men s music fraternity; ΣAI, the international women s music fraternity; KKΨ, national honorary band fraternity; AJE, Association for Jazz Education; CMENC, the Collegiate Music Educators National Conference. If you have any concerns during your stay, you may speak with any one of these individuals who will provide assistance. Transportation Students will be responsible for making their own transportation arrangements to USF on Thursday and from the USF on Sunday. There will be no airport pick- up or taxi service provided. Students who choose plan C are responsible for arriving at Festival events on time. During the Festival, shuttle buses will be provided from the hotel to the Festival site and from the site to off- campus meal opportunities. Chaperones will remind students in the morning of the bus schedule for the day, but ultimately, it is the student s responsibility to get to rehearsals and concerts. Due to the proximity of the hotel, there will also be mornings where students will be walked from the hotel to the rehearsal site by chaperones and staff. If a student misses a bus and is late/absent from a concert, the student may be removed from the Festival without a refund. Hint from the Festival Coordinator: This year, we will be taking advantage of staying on campus and students will be walked to and from the hotel by our more then capable student volunteers. The walk is less than ½ of a mile each way and should only take 10-15 minutes. We will not be bussing students at all this festival. Page 3
Parking If you are a student who plans on commuting, you must bring with you 10 dollars in cash visitor permits are 5 dollars a day, available from the permit vending machines in the lot. You will only need to buy a visitor permit on Thursday and Friday. Please park in Lot 3 (next to the Theatres and the Contemporary Art Museum). A parking map can be found online at: http://usfweb2.usf.edu/parking_services/maps.asp in multiple formats. Please make sure you park in the appropriate lot! The Festival of Winds is not responsible for parking tickets received during your time at USF. Also, please make sure you place all valuables out of sight or take them with you. USF and the Festival of Winds are not responsible for lost or stolen items. Registration and Hotel Check- In Registration begins Thursday at 8 am in Theatre 2 (THR see the parking services map above). When you arrive at check- in, please make sure to have your signed Festival Guidelines form and Medical Release form, as you cannot participate in the Festival without these. Please bring a photo ID as well. After you register with the Festival, the staff will direct you to your audition room (Auditions will be discussed below). Registration at THR closes at 3 pm. Do not wait until the last minute to register! Following your audition, you may check in at the Embassy Suites Hotel. Check in will begin at 3pm and continue until 4pm. There will be a concert to attend that evening which all students must be at and provide their own transportation to. After the concert, chair placements and rehearsal halls will be announced, and bus transportation will be provided. Following the rehearsal, you may check- in at the hotel if you have not done so already. Auditions Audition music will be made available to download from our website, http://festivalofwinds.arts.usf.edu, beginning Thursday, November 19 th. Those who wish to audition on piccolo, English horn, or a contra- bass clarinet must also prepare the flute, oboe, and bass clarinet audition music, respectively. Beside the prepared excerpts for your instrument(s), you will also be asked to play your full range chromatic scale (extended range players will be given preference in chair placement), as well as a brief sight- reading excerpt. Audition times will be posted online by Tuesday, November 24th. Make sure you arrive early enough to find the registration site (Theatre 2), register, and then warm- up. The rooms for your auditions will be told to you once you register. The results of the auditions will be posted following Thursday night s concert. Page 4
If you double on Eb Clarinet, Flugelhorn, or Soprano Sax, and you would like to audition to play these parts in addition to your main instrument (Bb clarinet, trumpet, alto saxophone) ensemble, please bring these instruments with you. Audition music will be made available for these instruments. This year, the ensembles are the Wind Ensemble, the Green Band, and the Gold Band. This is unlike similar festivals, where there are 3 or 4 bands in ranked order. The Wind Ensemble will be the top band, but the Green and Gold bands will be equal. The clinicians for these bands are nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their field, so no matter what ensemble you are placed in, know that you are going to have an absolutely outstanding time! Meals The table below illustrates the meals which we will provide and the meals which we will not provide. For the meals which we do not provide, there are several options. We are proud to announce the completion of our brand new USF Marshall Center, which offers: Moe s Southwest Grill, Chick- Fil- A, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Sbarro, Ben and Jerry s, Beef O Brady s Family Sports Pub, and more! Other on- campus dining opportunities include Burger King, Subway, and our resident student dining halls. Should you not want to dine on- campus, we will provide buses to and from the University Mall s food court. Please be advised that all Festival Guidelines must still be adhered to while off- campus, and that it is the student s responsibility to make it back to the buses in time to return to the Festival. Meals Provided Thursday, Dec. 4 th Friday, Dec. 5 th Saturday, Dec. 6 th Sunday, Dec. 7 th Breakfast No Yes at hotel Yes at hotel Yes at hotel Lunch No No No Yes Catered Lunch By Lenny s Sub Shop Dinner No Yes Pizza Party! No No Concerts Your time spent here at USF will include attending concerts of various ensembles of the School of Music, including but not limited to Jazz Ensemble 1, the Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble, and the 315- member Herd of Thunder Marching Band. Sit back and enjoy the engaging and exciting music the School of Music at USF has to offer! Page 5
In accordance with our attendance policy (please see the Festival Guidelines, available on our website), you must attend every concert. Your ID badge serves as your ticket for every concert that weekend. If you are not present at a concert, you will be marked absent and may be expelled from the Festival. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get to concert venues after meals. The Grand Finale concert will begin on Sunday at 1pm, and will be held in Theatre 1 (see the parking map for location). The three Festival ensembles will perform one after the other, with a 15-20 minute intermission in between each. Parent tickets will be available at the door on the day of the concert. Two tickets will be allowed per family. Additional tickets will be available in limited quantities on a first- come first serve basis. Master Classes On Saturday morning, you will attend a master class for your instrument led by our amazing USF School of Music applied faculty, with additional participation by the graduate and undergraduate students of their studios. Please bring your instrument, folding stand, and any solos you have been preparing. Every master class is run differently, so be prepared to play just in case! Opus 35 T- Shirts, Patches, and CDs of the Grand Concert As part of your fee, you will receive a commemorative Opus 35 T- Shirt, patch, and a CD recording of your Grand Finale concert. The t- shirt and patch will be given to you upon your registration. The CD of the Grand Finale concert will be mailed to the address you list on the payment and registration form. Please make sure your address is put in correctly! The Festival is not responsible for CDs not reaching their destination. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Refund Policy Our refund policy is as follows: A refund of the total amount minus $20 dollars will be allowed up until 2 weeks before the Festival. Two weeks before, a refund of the total amount minus $50 dollars will be allowed. One week before the Festival, refunds will be dealt with on a case- by- case basis with the Festival Director, Dr. Carmichael. If the established Festival Guidelines are not followed which result in the student s expulsion from the Festival, no refund will be given. Make sure that you have straightened out any plans that may interfere with your participation in the Festival (e.g. SAT/ACT testing, family functions, school projects, etc.). Page 6
Suggested Packing Checklist Print out and check off the items you pack - A folding, wire stand. Write your name on a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the stand. This will help you find your stand should you lose it! Please note that the School of Music will not provide stands for use during rehearsal. - Your completed and signed Festival Guidelines and Medical Release Forms, and a Photo ID. Without these, you cannot participate! Make the forms are signed! - Your instrument(s). Yes, it seems obvious, but when you re rushing out of the house in the morning and you almost forget it, I know you will thank us later. If you double and plan to audition on piccolo, English horn, contrabass clarinet, Eb clarinet, soprano saxophone, or flugelhorn, please remember to bring these instruments, too. - Instrument extras and accessories. Reeds, cork grease, valve oil, cleaning swabs, mouthpieces, mutes for brass, ligatures, mallets, sticks, drum keys. Bring it all you never know what you ll need! Also, be sure to bring any prepared solo music for potential use during master classes. - Pencils. A musician s best friend. Never leave home without at least 3 of them. - 4 days of comfortable clothing. As a rule of thumb, if you are not allowed to wear it at your school, then you are not allowed to wear it during the Festival. The weather may be chilly, so be sure to bring some warm clothes to layer. - Concert Dress. For Gentlemen: Either a black shirt OR a tuxedo (black jacket, white tux shirt, bow tie or black tie, black dress pants, and black socks and shoes. For Ladies: A black knee-length skirt, dress, or slacks, a black blouse, and black shoes. No tennis shoes or sandals. - Toiletries. Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair care products, comb/brush, deodorant, make-up, face wash, shaving materials, nail clippers, etc. - Prescription Medication. Please let the staff at the registration desk in Theatre 2 know what medications you are taking, and also list them on the medical release form. - Umbrella/Poncho. We have no way of knowing how the weather will be when walking you from the hotel to the rehearsal sites in the morning. Pack these items just in case. Page 7