All-State posting
Illinois All-State band audition requirements
This page reports what the official organization posted. Virtunity does not write audition requirements.
Confirm every date and requirement with your director. Organizations update packets.
ILMEA
Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA)
2026-27 materials are posted.
- Ensembles
- All-State Band - Senior level, All-State Band - Junior level
- Season
- 2026-27
- Audition window
- Fall 2026 district auditions. ILMEA posted the required material on May 1, 2026 and directs students to their own ILMEA district page for the exact audition date, time, and location; students must attend the district festival in its entirety to be eligible for the related All-State ensemble.
- Instruments
- winds and percussion (piano is listed separately; harp auditions run through the orchestra requirements)
What the organization posted
Wind players prepare the ILMEA scale sheet for their level - the Senior Level Scale Sheet carries a 3 minute time limit and all notes must be tongued - plus two commissioned etudes drawn from ILMEA Commissioned Etude Cycle 3, one technical and one lyrical. Piano auditions skip scales entirely and record only the two etudes. Percussion auditions skip scales and instead record four excerpts in sequence: snare, timpani, mallet, and auxiliary percussion. Auditions are recorded submissions: no audio editing or video enhancement beyond joining sections, and using headphones or earbuds, non-ILMEA backing tracks, a metronome while playing, being cued, or editing is disqualifying. At the Junior level, District 7 is the only district requiring additional supplemental material.
Notes
Requirement detail is split across documents the org links from this page: the Junior and Senior Level Scale Sheet PDFs on ilmea.org and the 2026 Jr/Sr Winds & Percussion Audition Material Google Docs. The technical/lyrical etude split, the piano and percussion exceptions, and the recording rules come from the Senior document; the exact scale keys are printed as music on the scale sheet PDF, so students should read that sheet itself. Auditions are run by ILMEA's districts, which set their own dates, so a student needs their district page. ILMEA jazz and orchestra (strings) are separate postings with their own materials.
Retrieved from the organization's page on August 23, 2026.
Wind & Percussion District Audition Process - Illinois Music Education AssociationPrepare the scales and etudes
Use a structured practice plan for scales, excerpts, and recordings. The official packet still sets the requirements.