What is Junior Festival?

Junior Festival is a nationwide event overseen by the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC).

Students of all ages, levels, and instruments have the opportunity to play for an adjudicator and receive written comments. Each student is awarded points based on the success of his/her performance.

These points translate into trophies when various milestone totals have been reached.

Full details are available in the NFMC Bulletin.

 In Las Vegas, Junior Festival events are run by the Las Vegas Music Teachers Association (LVMTA).

Junior Festival events run at different times throughout the year, according to instrument.

Some instrumental categories hold their festivals together.

 How to enter students in Junior Festival:

Because Junior Festival is a NFMC event, we are held accountable by the national chapter in terms of paying fees, filing reports, and following the national guidelines (particularly regarding repertoire). As a result, we regret that the process for entering Junior Festival is a multi-step one. But hopefully the following information will demystify the process!

 1. Obtain a NFMC bulletin.

The NFMC bulletin is a book containing the rules, repertoire guidelines, and lists of required repertoire for each instrument and level. The current bulletin applies to 2016-2020.

You may purchase a bulletin for $10.00. Contact the chairman for more information

2. Register your studio. Postmark Deadline: October 1

Click below to download this (PDF) and follow the instructions!

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3. Set up your lvmta.org account.

In order to register your students for Junior Festival, you will need an lvmta.com account.

Set up your account as soon as possible. If you already have an account, take the time to log in and confirm that you are able to access your account. Record your username and password.Enter your students into the system. You must set up a “profile” for each student (minimal information required) before you can register that student for any LVMTA event. If you have already entered your students for a previous year, they will still be listed under your account. BUT ALWAYS CHECK IN ADVANCE!Under “My Account Information,” be sure that you have entered your club name under “NFMC Club.” (If not, click “Edit” to add it in.)

4. During the registration period (see above), register and pay for your students at lvmta.com.  

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[For piano ensemble, flute, harp, and organ, please contact your event chair for registration details.]

You will need to list each student’s repertoire and the approximate length of each work.

You will also select a desired performance time. Please note that you are only making a request. When registration closes, the system will condense the schedule to fill in gaps, which allows us to economize on our limited judges. The time that you request may not be the time that you receive. You will receive an email notification when the schedule is finalized. Please wait until the schedule is finalized before announcing performance times to your students.

Tip: We do our best not to alter a student’s requested performance time too drastically (although sometimes it cannot be avoided). As with other LVMTA events, please advise your students to reserve the entire day until they receive their finalized performance times. If your student has an unavoidable conflict on that day, try to request a performance time that is more than four hours before or after the other event, in order to minimize the chance of being assigned a conflicting performance time.

 Payment for student registration fees:

All student fees are processed online through PayPal during the registration process. You must pay for your students before registration closes. NOTE: Please pay only when you are completely sure your registration is accurate and complete. It is very difficult to make changes to a student’s performance or get a refund once payment has been processed. 

Checklist:

Obtain NFMC bulletin

Submit studio registration form and fees

Set up/confirm lvmta.com account and create student entries as needed

Register and pay for students on lvmta.com

Additional tips for a smooth Junior Festival day:

Encourage your students/parents to order their music at least eight weeks in advance of their performance day.

Do not ask students to share music scores. So many things can go wrong with this plan (altered/conflicting performance times, slow music return, unreliable parents, etc.), and the student suffers the consequences of a harassed performance experience and/or disqualification.

Plan ahead. Assign pieces for which you know the student can readily obtain scores. Pick a week no less than two weeks in advance, and ask each student to bring his/her scores to lesson so that you can confirm that everything is in order. Be aware: per NFMC regulations, folk songs are not acceptable choice repertoire in classical instrument events. This includes transcriptions commonly found in method books, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Lightly Row,” “Greensleeves,” “Malagueña,” etc.

Sometimes performers are disqualified because of a teacher’s error. Please make sure to use original compositions only! There are minimum length requirements stated in the bulletin for each level. Please make sure that your selections meet the requirements.

Thank you so much for your support of Junior Festival!

Looking forward to another wonderful year!