Saturday, January 10, 2026 – Curtis Junior High School – University Place, WA
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 – Sageview High School, Pasco, WA
Goal
Our aim is to aid in the recruitment and retention of young tenors and basses and further their vocal development. We also strive to foster interest in tenor/bass singing and combat negative stereotypes associated with singing in high school. Our ultimate goal is for your students to take both their learned skills and enthusiasm for singing back to your classroom.
Who should I bring?
You can bring any of your tenor/bass high school vocalists. However, please only bring students whose voices have changed and are ready for the vocal range of TB repertoire. You do not need to bring a balanced group; we will work with all of your students! Bring as many as you can, the more the merrier!
Can our tenor/bass ensemble perform?
YES! We would love to have you perform one or two selections in the culminating concert. When you check-in the day of the event you’ll have the opportunity to give your performance information to the faculty.
Cost
The cost for each student participant is $15. This includes a T-shirt, and admin fees. Please indicate your (director) T-shirt size on the registration form. Each school will also pay a flat $30 fee no matter how many students attend. You will purchase the music for your students.
Lunch
Students/Schools will be responsible for bringing their own lunch. Directors could also order food from a number of local vendors to be delivered or picked up in time for our scheduled lunch break. Please contact your local host for more information on local eateries that deliver. (Curtis – Bella Garcia, Sageview – Wendy Newbury)
Schedule
- Registration will takje place:
- Curtis High School: 8:30 – 9am
- Sageview High School: 9 – 9:30am.
- The final concert will begin at 3:30pm.
- The festival will conclude by 4pm.
Chaperones
We expect each director will accompany their students. If it is customary for your district to require additional supervision, your chaperones will be more than welcome to join the students for lunch and the day’s festivities.
Music
We will be performing three pieces. Please order these as soon as you know who will be coming. Note that some of the pieces may have a backorder and some may have eprint possibilities.
The Water is Wide – arr. Steve Parsons
Babethandaza – arr. Victor Johnson
Preparation
As with any festival in which students come together to perform, it is imperative that your students be familiar with the music prior to the event. While the performance is informal, we hope to perform at a level that is commensurate with our aspirations as directors and help to inspire the performers involved. Repertoire will not be memorized for the performance.
Other Details
- Performance Attire: The attire is casual. We will all wear our festival T-shirt (included in your registration fees) for the final performance.
- Folders/Pencils: Please have your students bring a folder/pencil for the performance. Even if your students feel the music is memorized, please have them bring it nonetheless. We often refer to specific areas in the music by measure numbers and want to communicate effectively with your students. Repertoire will not be memorized for the performance.
- Festival Concert: The final concert will take place at the end of the event and conclude by 4pm.
- Wake-up/Sing-up: What to do with your students when they’re sluggish? Physical activities! This afternoon session will integrate music and physical activity meant to energize you and your students!
- WMEA Clock Hours: Directors can earn clock hours for participation in the event. Clock hours are free to WMEA members, nonmembers have a nominal fee.
Here are some comments we received regarding past festivals.
“What did you like about your students’ experience?”
- I liked that they were able to hear the power that comes when you have 250 tenors and basses sing together. They never get that experience! So that alone is amazing.
- It was so cool to have a room full of tenors and basses having a great time just singing together. The entire trip was a great bonding experience for my singers. It also gave us some quality repertoire that we can use for other things.
- Being surrounded by so many more students “just like them”. My students came away saying things like “I made new friends today” and “thank you for encouraging me to come even when I didn’t think I wanted to come because I’m not a strong singer.”
“How might this impact your program?”
- The singers said they were told that the best way to start a tenor/bass choir is to just do it, so they said they want to come back to school and “just start a tenor/bass choir club.”
- It is an event that I foresee students looking forward to. I can’t wait to take stories about this event to my middle school feeder program and get those students excited about this upcoming trip.
- The singers came back really pumped up about getting to do their own thing.
Registration
Registration is open till 5 PM December 1, 2025. You will need the following information: # of singers of each voice type: tenor, baritone, and bass, and you will also need to know how many of each size of t-shirt to order for you and your students (small – 4XL).
For more information email festival coordinator, Dean Luethi (dean.luethi@wsu.edu)