2019 CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT

​TVMTA Members,

Thank you to those in attendance at the COA Follow Up Meeting.  We appreciate the input via email from some of you who could not attend.

PROGRAM CHOICE:

The decision was made to move completely over to the “Certificate of Achievement” (Musicians West-Idaho) program for the 2019 COA 

• We will follow their program and their online syllabus.  If you have the California Syllabus you may choose to use it for your own reference, but we will not be using it as a TVMTA group. 

• Andrea Hansen will post all links to the various syllabus sections online under 2019 COA as they become available. http://www.treasurevalleymta.org  

• Repertoire Requirements (1 trophy point earned if average of repertoire scores is 6 or above)

•  http://www.musicianswest.org/certificate-of-achievement

  • ​~Young Beginner:  One or two pieces by memory, 12 measures minimum, different composers, no arrangements, folk songs or hymns, no “required” list.

  • ~Preparatory through Level 2:  Two pieces by memory, different composers, one piece from suggested list.

  • ~Level 3 through Level 5:  Three pieces, at least two by memory, different composers, different time periods. One piece from suggested list.

  • ~Level 6 through Level 10:  Four pieces, at least two by memory, different composers, different time periods. One piece from suggested list.

• One of the pieces must come from the “Suggested Repertoire List”.  This has some specific pieces, but also includes many anthologies.  Suggestions start at Preparatory Level.  http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/86a25e_ccd30a1d82f44beaa56193420035f5c8.pdf

• Time periods….This section is still under discussion for composer classification & time periods.  More information will be posted as soon as we have it.  

• Repertoire length…Each level the student is registered for has a set number of minutes allowed for the judge to hear the student.  All repertoire selected must be at the registered level or above.  Repertoire cannot exceed the time limit set for each level.  Judges will end the evaluation after the allotted time.   

  • Young Beginner-Level 2 Repertoire Max Length: 5 minutes

  • Level 3-Level 5 Repertoire Max Length: 10 minutes

  • Level 6-Level 7 Repertoire Max Length: 20 minutes

  • Level 8-Level 9 Repertoire Max Length: 25 minutes

  • Advanced/Level 10 Repertoire Max Length: 35 minutes including Etude

• Technique Requirements (1 trophy point earned if technique score is 6 or above)

  • http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/86a25e_20c91aaef6344adc97a6883d2a2daab0.pdf

  • This link will give you the 2018 technique requirements.  These are the requirements we will be using for COA 2019.  DO NOT USE THE CALIFORNIA SYLLABUS!  These are the requirements for COA 2019.

  • Level 10 (Advanced Level)—It was decided that students will be required to play an Etude instead of the technique listed for Level 10. 

  • The Level 10 Etude must be approved by the COA 2019 Committee.  Please send your Etude selection to COA Chair Emily Hanks emilyhank@yahoo.com to have it approved BEFORE your student begins working on the piece.  A decision will be made by the COA Committee in less than 1 week.

• Theory Requirements  (1 trophy point earned if theory/ear training score is 70% or higher)

  • We are working with Musicians West to get a list of guidelines for what the theory requirements for each level will be.  In the past students have been preparing for the theory tests using the Keith Snell Fundamentals of Theory books for each level (except for the Young Beginners).  We will continue to use that as the guideline unless we hear something different from Musicians West.  Young Beginner Requirements will include…identifying line & space notes, identifying high notes and low notes on a staff, steps & skips, the music alphabet, drawing notes including quarter, half, whole, dotted half, matching music symbols such as dynamics, tempo, bass clef, treble clef, staff, etc.

  • You can purchase past tests to use as practice tests at the following link… http://musicianswestregister.com You will need to create a new account if you haven’t created one previously. Click on “Online Store” to purchase past tests.

  • The theory test will include an Aural Skills portion.  Here is the link to the Aural Skills syllabus… http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/86a25e_f92ae0d79d3e4cb7a6623ab3526f5f01.pdf

  • Examples of the Aural Skills Test are here… http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/86a25e_64ce5ad040c3403b9614397e0c4091f1.pdf

  • We realize that there have been some editing mistakes on the theory tests from Musicians West.  We have compiled a list of mistakes from this year.  Those will be sent to Musicians West to help with improvements in the future.  Each year the editing mistakes have been less and less as we have submitted errors to them.  We will continue to work with Musicians West in the future to continue to improve the quality of the theory tests.  

• Sight Reading Requirements (1 trophy point earned if score is 6 or above)

  • Sight reading will be required on ALL levels including the Young Beginner level starting COA 2019.

• Trophies will be given at 12 points, 24 points, 36 points, and a medal will be given for the Advanced/Level 10

• If you have any questions about the requirements for the Certificate of Achievement Program for 2019 please contact Emily Hanks emilyhanks@yahoo.com

MAKE UP DAY:

The decision was made to keep Make Up Day at only ½ day.  Those spot will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis.  All other students that cannot participate on the original day will need to schedule a Path B.  Starting with COA 2019 there will be an additional $20 fee charged to any student who chooses to use Make Up Day or Path B.  This fee will be payable to TVMTA via Paypal before the student’s evaluation form will be available for the judge.  Those students who choose Path B are also responsible for the additional judges fee to compensate that judge for their time.  This is to be paid directly to the judge the day of their Path B evaluation.  Those fees were set based upon the time needed per level to judge.  Those fees are as follows….

         Young Beginner-Level 2 = $6.00 (12 minutes)

         Level 3-Level 5 = $10 (20 minutes)

         Level 6-Level 7 = $15 (30 minutes)

         Level 8-Level 9 = $17.50 (35 minutes)

         Advanced = $20 (40 minutes)

FEES:

We anticipate that the fees for participation in Certificate of Achievement 2019 will remain the same.  However, the theory test fees from Musicians West have not been set for COA 2019.  Any changes to those costs may affect participation fees for COA 2019.  Participation Fees will be listed on the website http://www.treasurevalleymta.org  as soon as we have them.

COA 2018 Fees were:

         Young Beginner---$28

         Prep-Level 2---$32

         Level 3-Level 5---$36

         Level 6-Level 8---$42

         Level 9-Advance---$50

MENTORS:

It was suggested that we start a list of Certificate of Achievement Mentors.  These would be teachers that would be willing to have their name listed on the website http://www.treasurevalleymta.org as a mentor for any of the new TVMTA members who have questions.  If you would be willing to become a mentor for COA please respond to this email and we will add your name and email address to the website. 

VOLUNTEERS:

It was suggested that we look into using volunteer hours from local High School National Honor Society Students and also the BSU Collegiate Chapter Students to assist with volunteer hours at the Certificate of Achievement event.  Teachers would still be required to provide ½ day volunteer slots based on the number of students they have registered, but we anticipate the number of volunteers they would need to provide would be reduced.  Teachers will still be REQUIRED to fill a ½ day volunteer slot themselves to continue participating in COA.  This event NEEDS teachers (not just other student/parent volunteers) to be able to continue running effectively.  More information will be posted on the website http://www.treasurevalleymta.org as soon as we have that information available.

COA 2019:

The 2019 COA Committee is being finalized.  As soon as we have those members contacted we will post them online.  http://www.treasurevalleymta.org  If you would like to be on the 2019 COA Committee please respond to this email.  We would love to have you participate as a committee member.

We have tentative dates selected for COA 2019.  As soon as those dates have been finalized they will be posted online. http://www.treasurevalleymta.org

It was decided that the 2019 COA Schedules need to be released sooner.  To make this possible some of the other deadlines for registration, repertoire, & volunteers have also been moved to an earlier deadline for COA 2019.  Those dates will be posted on the website as soon as they have been determined.  http://www.treasurevalleymta.org

Thank you for your patience while we make these changes.  We are looking forward to another great Certificate of Achievement event in 2019.

COA 2019 Committee

Emily Hanks, Chair

emilyhanks@yahoo.com