Why are there lists?
Required music lists first appeared in the 1920s as part of the National Band Contest. The essential purpose of these lists was to establish levels of difficulty and to standardize the instrumentation of the American wind band to facilitate the competition. Contests with their numerical rankings (1 winner and several “losers”) soon gave way to festivals where groups were awarded ratings of Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. In this way, several groups could be rewarded for superlative levels of performance.
As regional and state music education organizations grew, many adopted elements from the National Band Contest and developed their own required music lists. Today, there are over 30 different state/organization repertoire lists active in the United States. The events themselves are now called by various names such as “concert evaluation,” “large group performance evaluation,” or simply “festival.”
How can I add my piece to a list?
Each state has its own process. As this site grows each will be outlined. For now, composers would do well to prepare the following:
- A clean pdf of the score, including an attractive cover and all front matter. Tip: If the piece has won an award (NBA, CBDNA, etc.) by all means INCLUDE this information in the score.
- A good quality recording of the piece. Some states want high quality files and others want mp3s. Many of the large publishers will record music each year, but younger/self-published composers often do not have that opportunity. Fortunately, an organization …And We Were Heard is connecting composers with ensembles who will provide such recordings.
If you are interested in band music grading systems, this is a helpful blog post (in 2 parts).