All-State posting
Pennsylvania 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.
PMEA
Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA)
2026-27 materials are posted.
- Ensembles
- PMEA All-State Jazz Ensemble
- Season
- 2026-27
- Audition window
- Recording 'Window of Opportunity' opens Wednesday, November 11, 2026 and closes at noon in early January 2027; the instructions PDF gives two different closing dates (1/5/2027 in its header line and 1/7/2027 in the numbered instructions). Results posted Wednesday, January 27, 2027 on pmea.net and sent to District Presidents.
- Instruments
- jazz winds (alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone; trumpet; trombone; bass trombone) plus rhythm section: guitar, piano, vibraphone, bass, and drums
What the organization posted
Video-recorded audition uploaded through pmea.net, open to grades 10-12 whose director is a current PMEA member. Part 1 is scales plus a required piece. Alto and baritone saxophones play written Bb major and B major scales low to high and back in eighth notes at a minimum quarter note = 200 (swung or straight) and Confirmation from the Charlie Parker Omnibook, Eb edition (Hal Leonard), pages 1-2 through measure 64. Tenor saxophones play the same two scales plus It Could Happen to You from Sonny Stitt - Improvised Tenor Saxophone Solos (Alfred), pages 10-12 through measure 104. Trumpets, trombones, and bass trombones play two-octave concert Bb and concert B scales in eighth notes at a minimum quarter note = 120 plus the etude Friends from Jim Snidero's Jazz Conception (Advance), page 32, through measure 32, without the accompaniment CD. Part 2 requires at least one and encourages all three of: improvisation over one chorus of The Moon is High (Effective Etudes for Jazz, Carubia/Jarvis, Kendor, pages 16-17, with track 27); the PMEA-provided lead etude #3 (not available to tenor sax, baritone sax, or bass trombone); and section playing on My Glowing Moment (same book, page 30, with track 34). Rhythm section players perform My Glowing Moment complete with track 34 and comp one chorus then improvise a chorus on The Moon is High with track 27; drummers play Whodunnit? from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Play-Along Series Vol. 1 (Alfred), pages 24-27, track 8, plus unedited recordings demonstrating prescribed styles. Recordings must run start to finish with no cuts or splices, with arms, fingers, and head visible, no earbuds or headphones, and no identifying clothing or file naming.
Notes
PMEA's All-State Concert Band and Orchestra are NOT filled by a direct state-level audition; students qualify through PMEA District and Region festivals, which post their own audition materials on district sites, so there is no state-level concert band requirements posting to cite. The hub page is https://www.pmea.net/pmeaall-stateinformation/ and it also links the 2027 All-State Jazz Ensemble Audition Instructions PDF (procedure, dates, recording rules) plus a separate 2027 harp audition. The instructions PDF is internally inconsistent about the closing date (1/5/2027 vs 1/7/2027) and students should confirm with PMEA. A student selected for All-State Jazz is no longer eligible for any other PMEA All-State ensemble. Students may audition on multiple instruments with a separate application, payment, and upload for each. A separate All-State Modern Band audition existed for 2026; no 2027 version was found posted as of this date.
Retrieved from the organization's page on August 23, 2026.
2027 All-State Jazz Ensemble Audition MaterialsPrepare the scales and etudes
Use a structured practice plan for scales, excerpts, and recordings. The official packet still sets the requirements.