There are a lot of folks on here who can speak to Iowa competitions, but in other parts of the Midwest there are often up to or close to 40 competing groups at a competition and sometimes in a single day. The competitions that come to mind are Pleasant Hill (Missouri) "Battle of the Best" which this year is slated to have 37 competing groups, Fairfield "Crystal Classic," a FAME Aspire award winner, had 36 last year and 33 this year, and Lincoln Southwest "Showdown" had 36 last year as well. All of those competitions are able to host that many in a single day due to having at least two performance locations (gym and auditorium).
I think another trend in Midwest show choir competitions is that we're seeing more competitions feature a one-and-done format. One performance and then class awards. Eliminates finals, but also gets students, directors, parents, etc. home well before midnight.
edit: unrelated, but is the middle school competition on Friday all one middle school division? Or is there a large/small or anything?
Jeff.
Thanks for the input. I will definitely check those contests out. I'm not a big fan of the "one and done" approach, since you don't have an opportunity to implement changes suggested by the judges after your daytime performance.
For Dutch Masters, the MS competition is divided into two divisions: auditioned groups, and non-auditioned groups. I'll have to doublecheck which are which, but I'll get you that information this weekend. Thanks for updating the schedules for everyone!
Quick question for the show choir community.... there are 19 high school groups competing at Dutch Masters this year, along with 13 middle schools on Friday night. Including the exhibition performances, there are 35 different groups that will be taking the stage that weekend.
For those "in the know", I'm curious...what is the biggest show choir contest in Iowa and/or the Midwest? Define "biggest" however you want...number of performers, number of schools, number of groups, attendance, prestige.... I'm interested in seeing how someone else with a large contest runs things. We want to make certain all our groups at Dutch Masters get the best possible experience, so we're always looking at other contests to see what works best.
Thanks, and good luck to all this season!
There are a lot of folks on here who can speak to Iowa competitions, but in other parts of the Midwest there are often up to or close to 40 competing groups at a competition and sometimes in a single day. The competitions that come to mind are Pleasant Hill (Missouri) "Battle of the Best" which this year is slated to have 37 competing groups, Fairfield "Crystal Classic," a FAME Aspire award winner, had 36 last year and 33 this year, and Lincoln Southwest "Showdown" had 36 last year as well. All of those competitions are able to host that many in a single day due to having at least two performance locations (gym and auditorium).
I think another trend in Midwest show choir competitions is that we're seeing more competitions feature a one-and-done format. One performance and then class awards. Eliminates finals, but also gets students, directors, parents, etc. home well before midnight.
edit: unrelated, but is the middle school competition on Friday all one middle school division? Or is there a large/small or anything?
Quick question for the show choir community.... there are 19 high school groups competing at Dutch Masters this year, along with 13 middle schools on Friday night. Including the exhibition performances, there are 35 different groups that will be taking the stage that weekend.
For those "in the know", I'm curious...what is the biggest show choir contest in Iowa and/or the Midwest? Define "biggest" however you want...number of performers, number of schools, number of groups, attendance, prestige.... I'm interested in seeing how someone else with a large contest runs things. We want to make certain all our groups at Dutch Masters get the best possible experience, so we're always looking at other contests to see what works best.
SATURDAY, February 22 HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION
Jubilation Inc. Benton Prep 9:10 AM
Vibrations Keokuk Prep 9:35 AM
Illumination CPU Prep 10:00 AM
Audacity HLV 1A 10:25 AM
BREAK
Center Stage Guthrie Center 1A 11:00 AM
Commotion Holy Trinity 1A 11:25 AM
Center Street Swing BCLUW 2A 11:50 AM
Black & Gold Emmetsburg Prep 12:15 PM
LUNCH
Christopher Jive West Branch 2A 1:15 PM
CENTRifugAL FORCE Central Lee 2A 1:40 PM
Rhythm in Red Vermillion 2A 2:05 PM
High Voltage Emmetsburg 2A 2:30 PM
Rhythm 'n Red DCG 3A 2:55 PM
Music 'n' Motion Webster City 3A 3:20 PM
BREAK
Purple Harmony Keokuk 3A 3:55 PM
Celebration Co. Benton 3A 4:20 PM
InMotion Mt. Pleasant 3A 4:45 PM
Summit Street Singers CPU 3A 5:10 PM
Swingspan Fort Madison 3A 5:35 PM
AcaPella Pella H.S. Exhibition 6:00 PM
Top 6 scoring groups, regardless of class, make the finals on Saturday night. Finals begin at 7:30 pm (tentative time) and include an exhibition performance by Pella's prep show choir, the Dutch Divas.
The saturday competition schedule has been added above. Thanks for the schedule - if there are any changes in between then and now just post so we can update it!
The Dutch Masters Show Choir Invitational is set for February 21-22, 2014 in Pella, Iowa. This contest will feature some of the best "small school" show choirs in the State. Friday night, February 21st, middle school groups will take the stage to compete for the middle school championship in both auditioned and non-auditioned categories. On Saturday, February 22nd, the auditorium will be rocking with 18 of Iowa's best 3A/2A/1A groups battling for a spot in the finals.
This contest is known for a great performance venue, top notch hospitality, wonderful volunteers, the best food, and fantastic performances. AcaPella and Dutch Divas are also known to spring a few surprises during their exhibition performances at Dutch Masters, so make plans to join us in February!
Pella Dutch Masters Invitational (Day Two) 2014
