String orchestra directors who wish to participate in Orchestra Division events must be a member of SCMEA. To become a member of SCMEA, you must pay dues to the National Association for Music Education (MENC). By joining MENC, you are automatically a member of SCMEA. Please visit the Resources page to find a link to the MENC site.

Rules Governing Region Orchestra

The membership is expected to follow all rules asnd procedures as outlined by the rules and procedures for sponsorship and participation for any SCMEA activity. Failure to comply will result in penalization by the Orchestra Division Executive Board by means of the following: a letter of warning, a letter to the superintendent of the sponsoring teacher, or an order precluding participation by the teacher in the Orchestra Division activities for one year.

All students must be enrolled for 1 unit of credit in their school string orchestra class if the same is offered at the school they attend.

Sponsorship for Orchestra Division activities, including Solo & Ensemble and Concert festivals, is the responsibility of the school string orchestra class teacher. In schools where there is no such class offered, sponsorship may be assumed by the private teacher provided this teacher is a member, in good standing, of the SCMEA Orchestra Division. An orchestra conductor who conducts an orchestra outside of a school situation may assume responsibility for sponsoring if there is no string or orchestra class offered in that student's school, and if that student does not study privately with an SCMEA Orchestra Division member. The sponsoring teacher in all cases must be a member of the SCMEA Orchestra Division by the date the application is submitted and participate at the Region and/or All-State event where the student is performing.

All sponsoring string teachers will serve as chaperones for their students at all activities: NO EXCEPTIONS. String teachers from the same district may serve as chaperones for students within their district with School and Orchestra Division Executive Board approval provided no person chaperones more than ten students.

Students must be eligible to attend school in the state of South Carolina.

Students must be in the 9-12 grades (age 14+) for Senior All-State and/or Region Orchestra. Junior Region Orchestra will be open to students in grades 6-9 ( age 11+). The All-State Orchestras will be organized as:

• Junior Region- grades 6-9
• Senior Region- grades 9-10

The orchestras will be limited to 18 first violins, 18 second violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos, and 10 basses, plus the necessary wind and percussion players.

The directors will house their students in accommodations of their choosing. The local chairperson will provide a list of local accommodations. Directors must inform the local chairperson of their students' housing plans at registration.

Any student who has been accepted into the orchestra must attend and participate in the concert and all rehearsals. Failure to participate in the event's entirety will mean ejection from the orchestra event and forfeiture of that student's rights to participate in subsequent Orchestra Division activities for one full year. Illness and family emergency are exceptions.

NO smoking, alcoholic beverages, or illegal drugs will be tolerated.

Students may participate in Senior All-State and/or Region or Junior All-State and/or Region Orchestras, but not in both, on a stringed instrument (violin, viola, cello, or double bass). The All-State or Region Chairman will decide exceptions in reference to instrumentation.

The audition fee must accompany the student application and is non-refundable.

All entries for Orchestra Division activities must be submitted on the official application form or facsimile, in score order (violin, viola, cello, bass).

The pre-registration fee for participation in Region Orchestra will be $25.00 when paid by the pre-registration deadline. After that deadline, registration will be $40.00. Pre-registration fee for All-State Orchestra will be $30.00 when paid by the pre-registration deadline. After that deadline, registration will be $50.00. The Executive Board makes exclusive decisions on all or partial refund of prepaid fees.

All chaperones should register upon arriving at an event and should list the students for whom they are responsible.

Any exceptions to rules must be presented in writing to the Orchestra Division Executive Board two weeks prior to the performance.

Seating auditions will be blind and students should be allowed to use their own music. Callbacks may be viewed at the committee's discretion. The decision of the judges will remain final.

All teachers/parents registering students will be required to judge or work in some capacity at the Region Audition for their assigned region unless released IN ADVANCE by the Region Chairman who is overseeing the tryouts. Students attending the school(s) or private studio of those techers refusing to work in some capacity will be ineligible to audition and will forfeit audition fees. Any teacher who leaves the audition site without permission from the chairman will have the audition results of the students from the school at which he/she teaches removed from the audition process. Students who attend the school(s) at which the teacher teaches will forfeit their audition fees and lose the right to participate in the Region or All-State audition process for the remainder of the school year. It should also be noted that in schools with two or more directors/teachers, that ALL teachers and assistants MUST comply with these guidelines in order for students from that school to remain eligible to compete in the audition process.

Region Orchestra Procedures

The state has been divided into four regions for the purpose of conducting the Region auditions. The regions are Upstate East (Region 1), Upstate West (Region 2), Midlands (Region 3), and Lowcountry (Region 4). (Please see Regions page for a list of counties in each region.) In the fall, string students will audition for the opportunity to participate in a Junior or Senior Regional String Orchestra.

All forms and monies to register for audition will be sent to the Region Audition Chairman. Auditions will be live at the various locations throughout the state.

Students will be allowed to have their scales out during the audition. Each student will be given 30 seconds to review the sight-reading prior to playing.

The chairmen of the Region auditions/event will determine the site, assign the judges, select a conductor, and be in charge of the event set-up and audition design.

Every student will audition in his/her respective region on a predetermined day in October.

Region results will be posted in alphabetical order by section the same day as the audition. Chair auditions will be held at each respective performance event for specific seating assignments.

Students who play in a Region Orchestra will be eligble to audition for All-State Orchestra. Auditions for All-State will be held live on a predetermined date in January. Two senior full orchestras (Senior All-State, grades 9-10, and Senior Honors All-State, grades 11-12) and one junior orchestra (Junior All-State, grades 6-8) will be selected from the auditions. Failure to participate in the Region event will result in the student being ineligible to audition for All-State.

Students in grades 11-12 are eligible to audition for the All-State Solo. The Senior Honors All-State Orchestra (11-12) will perform the chosen solo.