Honors Requirements
-Level 5 or above
-Score 90% or above on theory test
-Receive rating of Good or Excellent on Sight Reading
-Receive rating of Excellent on Technique
-Be recommended by the Evaluator for Honors
-All pieces must be performed from memory

There will be no Honors Recitals held this year.
Evaluations and Theory testing will be held on the same weekend at SDSU.

Deadline for Evaluation form entry is midnight Friday January 25th.
Day 1 is Saturday, February 23; Day 2 is Sunday, February 24. There is no 'venue' selection.

If you apply for Convention Festival Recital, your convention piece and the piece you use as your syllabus piece must be the same piece. The computer will not accept your submission if you don't use the same piece for "Syllabus Piece" and "Convention Recital Piece".

Duet teams – 1P4H - If you have duet teams, please check the box for Convention Ensemble. This will ensure that the students are scheduled back to back. If you in fact DO want your students to be evaluated for Convention Ensemble do nothing further. If you DO NOT want them to be evaluated for Convention Ensemble, go to bottom section which says ‘Message to Evaluator’ and write a short note that says you do not want them evaluated for Convention Ensemble.

2P4H – Follow the same instructions as above but email Tracy Lovley with the student’s names so that we can make sure there are 2 pianos available in one room.

Day Requests
Teachers should have at least one third of their students have no choice for day. (If you have less than 6 students, then it should be half with no choice). DO NOT PROMISE YOUR STUDENTS SPECIFIC DAYS. THEY NEED TO LEAVE THAT WEEKEND OPEN AS WE CANNOT FILL ALL REQUESTS.

If you must make a choice of day for a student, they will most likely automatically receive a morning time. No a.m. choices can be made, (since making a choice of day fills up the mornings), but P.M. requests are allowed and, in fact, encouraged.

Repertoire Entry
Please time pieces accurately. Don’t guess!! Use a capital letter for all keys – even minor ones – but write out the word “major” or “minor”. Do not use numbers or the number sign (#) for movements. Use the tempo indication (Allegro, Andante, etc.) Do not capitalize everything, nly the first letters of each word.

Example:
Title: Sonatina in G major, Op. 36, No.2
Movement: Allegro
Composer: Clementi

Use full last names of composers but include first initials to designate which composer if necessary.

Example:
Title: French Suite No.3 in B minor
Movement: Allemande, Gigue
Composer: J.S. Bach

Please note that Advanced students should use a piece from the syllabus lists on pages 88-91 when completing evaluation form. The Etude may be used if the student is applying for the Convention Festival Recital.

Evaluation Day
Please inform parents that CM Evaluations will be held at SDSU and that they will have to pay for parking.
The ideal situation for students is that they take the test on the opposite day that they have their evaluation. If this is not possible, then students should take their test after they are evaluated unless they have a later evaluation time. Then they should come at least 2 hours before their evaluation time or on the next day. Students will not be allowed to finish the test on the next day. There are 2 separate check in’s for Theory and Evaluations. Students must check in as if they were separate events.
The theory rooms will close at 5:00pm on both days. Students must finish their test by this time.

Runners
We will need many runners at SDSU so please encourage your high school and college students to help out.

Teachers will be asked to be runners which will involve much walking so please wear sensible shoes that are comfortable to walk in.

Graded Theory tests cannot be given out to teachers until April 6th. This is different than previous years. You will be able to view the tests at Lovley’s Music & Gifts for correctness and we encourage you to do this to check correct scoring and such for Honors and Convention programs, but you will have to leave them at the store until the 6th. You will be able to pick up the evaluation forms and certificates following the evaluations when the CM Committee is finished with them. You will be notified when they are available. No teacher may take any materials from SDSU during or after the evaluations. All materials must remain with the CM Committee.

Panel students may be dropped back to Advanced-Non Panel by January 15th.

- view this section as a .pdf document

Guidelines for CM Testing
Cell phone use by students is prohibited until they have checked out of testing; students are strongly encouraged not to bring cell phones to the test center. If a student’s phone makes noise, or they are seen using it at any time (including breaks), they may be dismissed immediately, their scores may be canceled, and the device may be confiscated. This policy also applies to any other prohibited digital and/or electronic device such as a Blackberry, pager, PDA, camera or other photographic equipment, or a separate timer of any kind. We strongly advise students not to bring them. Students may use a watch to time themselves —no separate timers or audible alarms are allowed, as they distract other test-takers. Students are not allowed to share equipment with another test-taker.

What Not to Bring to the Test Center - Students may not bring the following items into the test room:
• Cell phone, pager, personal digital assistant, or any other digital and/or electronic equipment
• Scratch paper
• Notes, books, dictionary
• Compass, protractor, ruler, or any other aid
• Highlighter or colored pencils
• Portable listening or recording device (CD players will be provided)
• Camera or other photographic equipment
• Separate timer of any kind or watch with audible alarm
• No electronic devices are allowed in the theory test room. This includes, but is not limited to: MP3 players, Ipods, etc.
• Cameras and camera Cell phones - Students with cell phones have the ability take pictures of the tests with their camera phones, or send text messages to friends in search of answers. (Cell phones may be collected at the door to the theory test room and placed in a box or envelopes.)
• Backpacks are not allowed in the theory test room.
• Once students have entered the test room, they may not leave except when escorted to the restrooms
• Students need to be monitored when using the restroom for the protection of the student and to prevent students from sharing theory questions and answers

Please inform parents that these theory room guidelines will be enforced. Students who are caught violating the guidelines will be escorted from the theory room and will not be allowed to finish the theory test.

Teacher Guidelines
Teachers who are monitoring the theory rooms may not talk on their cell phones during testing.
It is recommended that a theory room monitor move around the test room to support these guidelines

CM Chair Guidelines 2008 – Theory and Path B
Branch chairs shall keep all theory tests in his or her possession until all CM testing is completed statewide.

Path B materials may not be given to teachers until all CM testing is completed statewide.
Advanced Level students who have an exemption from theory, but who then decide to take a lower CM level in a subsequent year (for example, dropping to Level 8 after receiving the exemption) must take the theory test for the level in which he or she is enrolled. The theory exemption is only valid for the Advanced Level.
Technique/Sight Reading Booklets must remain with the Chair until tests are completed statewide

For further review of testing guideline, the national SAT and AP testing guidelines can be found at:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/testday/bring.html

- view this section as a .pdf document

San Diego MTAC Certificate of Merit 2008
Work Day Preference Form
Click the above link to download the form

Please be sure that your parents understand the that theory test and the evaluation will all be done on the same weekend. They will need to allow quite a bit of time for the entire process and they will also have to pay for parking. CM will run very similiar to the MTAC Sonata Contest.

Since this is the only weekend that the testing will take place be sure that your parents can commit to this weekend. There will be no other makeup times, places, etc. except for the State authorized makeup of high school students which teachers will be responsible for arranging.

The registration deadline is Nov. 15. Checks should be made out to MTAC and mailed to Tracy Lovley, 8287 Hudson Dr. San Diego, CA 92119, along with a copy of your Student Registration summary list.

Please remember that per CM Policy, you may not register students from another teacher under your name. This will result in the disqualifcation of your own students. It's not worth it, so don't do it.

Shortly, you will also be receiving more information about the required teacher work commitment. There may be some changes from last year due to the vastness of completing all testing and evaluations in one weekend.

The Teacher Work Contract is attached and should be returned with your Student registration and payment. This program relies on your willingness to give of your time and effort in order to make it successful.

I have also attached the latest CM Newsletter from state office. This contains extensive information about many different CM subjects including repertoire. Please take the time to read through it.

The Registration instructions and Fee Schedule for the 2008 Evaluations can be accessed by clicking on http://www.mtac.org/programs/CMforms/CM2008RegInstructionsFees.pdf. THE BRANCH FEE IS $10.00 PER STUDENT.

Check the following link http://www.mtac.org/pages/CMAddendum2007PianoSyllabus1.pdf for updates to the new syllabus

Here are the links to some other forms that you may need:
http://www.mtac.org/programs/CMforms/CM2008ParentLetter.pdf
http://www.mtac.org/programs/CMforms/CM2007ThemeRecitalInformation.pdf

You may also find other forms at the following link:
http://www.mtac.org/programs/cmchairmailings/index.shtml

Volunteer Teachers Agreement

You will need Adobe Acrobat to read these important files. Look to the left for a link to download a FREE copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader