2024 Nebraska All-State Chorus

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2024 ALL-STATE CHORUS CONDUCTOR BIO

Dr. Derrick Fox is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors and a Professor of Choral Conducting at Michigan State University. Prior to MSU, he was the Director of Choral Activities and Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Ithaca College. Dr. Fox has taught at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels. His conducting experiences have included singers from upper elementary choirs through collegiate and community choirs. He was awarded the 2021 Bryan R. Johnson Service Award by the Nebraska Music Educators Association and the 2022 University of Nebraska Omaha Award for Distinguished Research/Creative Activity.

Dr. Fox has conducted all state and regional choirs across the United States, led international, national and regional choral concerts/residencies and presented professional development workshops across the United States and internationally. His professional workshops focus on assessment in the choral classroom, building classroom community, rehearsal strategies, choral conducting techniques and shape note singing in the African American community. Dr. Fox has held teaching residencies at the Latvian Academy of Music and Syracuse University and led performance tours through Lithuania and Estonia. Dr. Fox conducted the 2019 National ACDA Middle School/Junior High Mixed Honor Choir and traveled to South Africa as a 2019 ACDA International Conductor Exchange Fellow where he led choral workshops and rehearsals in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Potchefstroom.

As a baritone soloist, Dr. Fox has collaborated with various organizations; among them are the Arkansas Symphony, Lansing Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Columbia Chorale, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha Symphonic Chorus, University of Missouri, Michigan State University, Webster University and the Espaço Cultural (Brasilia, Brazil). He can be heard singing selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on the compact disc In This Hid Clearing, available on the Naxos Classical Music label.

As an author, Dr. Fox has written articles for many organizations and was a contributing author in the Hal Leonard/McGraw Hill choral textbook Voices in Concert. His compositions and arrangements are published by Hal Leonard and Brilee Music. His book, Yes You Can: A Band Director’s Guide to Teaching Choirs is published by Carl Fischer. He launched The Derrick Fox Choral Series with Music Spoke to publish works by and about marginalized and minoritized people. He also partnered with the Country Music Association Foundation to create the Unified Voices for Music Education Initiative which provides learning activities for instrumental and elementary music educators. He is the writer and host of the radio show Reflections of Us, a show focused on amplifying diverse voice in the classical music.

Dr. Fox serves on the advisory board for Sounding Spirit, a research lab and publishing initiative of Emory University’s Center for Digital Scholarship, which promotes collaborative engagement with the songbooks that sound America’s musical landscape. https://www.drderrickfox.com/

2024 ALL-STATE REGISTRATION AND AUDITION DATES

***UPDATED***

All instrumental directors have from September 18 at 8:00 AM CST until 11:59 PM CST September 28 and all vocal directors will have from September 26 at 12:00 PM CST (excerpts announced 8:00 AM CST that day) until 11:59 PM CST September 28 to make sure your students’ auditions have been submitted correctly. These deadlines will not be extended for any reason. Auditions must be completed in the timeframe approved by the NMEA board. No students will be allowed to submit an audition for All-State once the published closing date has passed because of illness or any other unforeseen events. Please make sure you follow all of the guidelines in this manual to help you and your students be successful.

2024 ALL-STATE CHORUS REPERTOIRE

2024 AUDITIONS MANUAL & REGION LOOKUP GUIDE

Click the link below to view the 2024 Auditions Manual for ALL high school All-State ensembles. You can use the Table of Contents to jump to any specific area in the manual. Please read through this document carefully as it contains important information including All-State eligibility requirements and other policies, contact information, step-by-step instructions on how to navigate FesitivalScores, and more! 

The Event Tags for each All-State ensemble will be posted in the Auditions Manual (linked below) starting September 18. Directors can begin adding students to the event at this time, but chorus audition cuts will not be announced until September 26 at 8:00 AM.

2024 Auditions Manual (ALL ENSEMBLES)

The 2024 All-State Region Lookup Guide for All-State Chorus is also available for download by clicking the link below.

SPLIT PARTS - Please Note: In sections where a single voice part also includes splits (ex. Agnus Dei, Tenor 1, ms. 25), we will divide singers according to region in order to achieve balance in the final choir.  Regions 1-6 will sing the top part, and Regions 7-11 will sing the bottom. 

2024 All-State Region Lookup Guide

2024 AUDITION MATERIALS

The 2024 All-State Chorus auditions will include:

• Scales
• Arpeggios
• Excerpts from the All-State Chorus music (which will be made available on the NMEA website when the chorus audition submission window opens)

1. All-State Scales

Scales should be performed without accompaniment. Only the tonic pitch will be sounded 4 times in tempo. Download the Scales-Arpeggio Sheet PDF for further instructions.

• Soprano and Tenor: F major ascending and descending one time only a cappella
• Alto and Bass: B flat major ascending and descending one time only a cappella

2. All-State Arpeggios

Arpeggios should be performed with chordal accompaniment only. The tonic pitch will be sounded 4 times in tempo. Download the Scales-Arpeggio Sheet PDF for further instructions.

The rehearsal tracks for scales and arpeggios can be downloaded by clicking the links below.

Soprano/Tenor Scales & Arpeggios

Alto/Bass Scales & Arpeggios

3. All-State Chorus Music Excerpts

The Audition Cuts for the All-State Chorus are Now Available! Click the link below to access the cuts and accompaniment tracks.

PLEASE NOTE: Directors will need to log into the NMEA website in order to access this page. If your membership has lapsed, you will not be able to log in.

If you have questions about your membership, please contact Executive Director Cheyenne Grannan at [email protected]. 

All-State Chorus Audition Cuts

REHEARSAL TRACKS

Rehearsal tracks for the 2024 All-State Chorus are now available for purchase. NMEA is partnering with Choral Tracks again to provide rehearsal tracks for S1, S2, A1, A2, T1, T2, B1, and B2 at the cost of $14 each. Click the link below to purchase tracks through the Choral Tracks website.

IMPORTANT: If you have previously purchased All-State Chorus rehearsal tracks, there is an update available for Lor V’dor and Oh What A Beautiful City. You can access these updates by contacting Choral Tracks at [email protected]. Chorus audition selections will be made from these corrected versions of the rehearsal tracks. If you have not yet purchased, the tracks available have already been corrected and no additional action is needed. 

Purchase Rehearsal Tracks

Questions about rehearsal tracks can be sent to the Executive Director at [email protected].

Teachers and students are reminded that rehearsal tracks are intended for sale to single, individual students. NMEA asks teachers to be on the honor system and not purchase a set (a "set" is one of each voice part) and distribute them to multiple students. Anyone making an individual order is asked to not share their purchased MP3s with anyone else.

REHEARSAL NOTES & PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

Dr. Derrick Fox has provided rehearsal notes as well as a pronunciation guide for L'dor Vador to help guide students' preparation for the 2024 All-State Chorus repertoire. Click the links below to view the notes.