MSVMA - State Choral Festival

High School and JH/MS State Choral Festival

State Choral Festival is an educational opportunity designed to encourage your students to develop their performance. You and your students will have the opportunity to hear some of the most advanced and accomplished choirs in Michigan. The adjudication team will provide assessment by nationally recognized master choral clinicians who are selected for their outstanding and engaging work with choirs.

Eligibility Requirements

Qualifying performance of Division I - Excellent at District Festival

For the 2024-25 festival season and beyond, choirs must be at least 12 students.

It is expected that the choir will consist of the same members who performed at District Choir Festival.

Registration and Payment

Festival Scheduler

Registration Instructions

Fees are $195 per choir. Fees for the UP are $100. Fees are non-refundable. Returned checks are subject to a $25 fee.

Deadline for registration and payment is March 24, 2026.

Payment can be made by:

School, booster, or director’s personal check payable to MSVMA and mailed to MSVMA, P.O. Box 1131, Big Rapids, MI 49307.
Credit card on the scheduling website or by calling 231.592.9344
Purchase order submitted by the postmark deadline

Late registration closes March 31, 2026 and must be paid via credit card and includes a $50 late registration fee.

Your events will not be scheduled unless your payment or PO postmarked by the deadline is received. If the PO payment has not been received by the first day of the Festival, your events will not perform.

Late registration will be available for seven days after the deadline and will require an additional $50 per event fee that must be paid by credit card.

State Choral Festival medals will be available for purchase for $5 at the Festivals for choirs who receive final determinations of Excellent (I) or Good (II).

Checks for fees payable to MSVMA should be mailed to:

MSMVA

P.O. Box 1131

Big Rapids, MI 49307

For registration questions, contact State Events Scheduling Coordinator Julia Holt or Director of State Events Matt Snell.

Repertoire

For HS events, each choir must perform three selections. District Choral Festival literature requirements apply.
For JH/MS events, each choir must perform two selections and may opt to perform three.
JHMS choirs may choose to receive a rating at State Choral Festival, understanding that they will be adjudicated by a HS-centric panel. The default and recommendation of MSVMA is that JHMS choirs sing for comments only. Choirs will receive the JHMS certificate and can choose to purchase the JHMS medal or the corresponding medal to their score.
For HS events only, one selection must be unaccompanied, but may include non-pitched percussion or body percussion.
Choreography is not allowed. However, artful staging and appropriate choral movement that reflect performance practice of the genre is allowed.
Non-traditional choral music sung at choral festival needs to fall within the framework of the MSVMA choral rubric. Click here to view further considerations regarding non-traditional choral music sung at choral festival.

Festival Performance of Original Arrangements

All copyright laws will apply. This includes use of copyrighted texts.
In order to perform an arrangement of a copyrighted piece, you must have written permission that includes all pertinent information.
Adjudicators are required to provide written comment regarding the quality of literature using the rubric.
All other MSVMA Festival literature requirements apply.

Performance

There is no sight reading at State Choral Festival.
State Festival participation includes three components: warm-up, performance and clinic.
Each component is allocated 15 minutes which includes the time needed to enter and exit the warm-up room, stage or clinic room. Choirs that exceed this time in any of the components may be stopped.
Every attempt will be made to honor performance date and time requests. Schools sending multiple groups cannot be assured of having them scheduled on the same day.
Choirs may be scheduled to sing from 8 AM to 10 PM
Accompanists must have original copies of selections.
When performing music requiring accompaniment, live accompaniment must be used (unless it is avant-garde or 21st century music requiring electronic or taped accompaniment as part of the composer's compositional and performance intent).
Choirs must provide one original score of the selections with measures numbered for each of the four adjudicators. Failure to do so will result in a No Final Determination rating.
Any changes in the literature must be submitted through the online scheduler seven days prior to the first day of the Festival. Changes in repertoire after this date will result in a No Final Determination rating.