<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>First off, I am sorry if this thread doesn't belong in this part of the site; I did not know where to put it on CC.</p>
<p>What are the guidelines for the 2015 NAFME All-Eastern festival? Their website is totally ambiguous. I heard that you have to be in the top 5% of people accepted, so is this true? I play trombone if that helps.</p>
<p>I was in the 2013 orchestra. All you need to do is fill out an application where they will ask for all previous regions/all-states stuff. They mostly go by seating though. It really depends on your state too. There is a percentage of people from each state. So states like nj and ny represent about 15%-20% each. It also depends on your instrument. They may take more or less trombones from your state and balance it out by takin more or less of another instrument. So it’s much harder in some states than others. Otherwise it’s really a crapshoot. I got lucky and got in even though I was the 6th chair out of 16 violas at all state, I still got in. Good luck, it’s truly a fantastic experience.</p>
<p>So it’s not that if you do really well at All-State, the judge recommends you for eastern?</p>
<p>I would say its mostly by Allstate seating but all state was cancelled for me last year because of hurricane sandy so idk how it normally is</p>
<p>I am a 2013 band member. I would agree with much of what slick908 had said and would like to add on. </p>
<p>In the big picture, the All Eastern board takes recommendations from each state directors on who to select. So for Maryland, four clarinetists were “nominated” by the MD director to participate in All Eastern band/orchestra. These students were notified of their nomination Spring 2012. Then the All Eastern board chooses how ever many clarinets they want from MD, depending on some percentage distribution by state. As slick said, NY and NJ make a larger portion than other states as well as PA. </p>
<p>In MD, you could only fill out the application if you were nominated. And sometimes lower chairs are chosen for All Eastern simply because the higher chairs are graduating seniors who won’t be in high school by the next year since All Eastern is a biannual event. </p>
<p>I would wholeheartedly agree it is a tremendous experience. </p>
<p>There is actually a formal pdf document from All Eastern that describes the process of being accepted into one of the ensembles online.</p>