Music for All UCF: Director Information

WELCOME and congratulations on your ensemble’s selection to this year’s Music for All UCF-Orlando Concert Band Invitational, presented by Excelcia Music Publishers. This page should serve as a central resource for you and our staff to exchange the most important information in preparation for a successful event on April 12. Please monitor this page AND your e-mail inbox for notice, both of new information that can be found here AND regarding details that we need you to submit. We’re looking forward to an incredible day of music and learning with you and your band community!

PLEASE take the time to familiarize yourself with all details and instructions in this packet and future communications to help ensure that all will run as smoothly and according to schedule as possible.

• Travel Planning
• Equipment Information
• Dr. Phillips Center Information
• Performance & Clinic Information
• Parents & Supporters Information
• The Rest of Your Day
• Schedule & Program
• Information Submission
• Music for All Information

Travel Planning

GETTING TO THE DR. PHILLIPS CENTER
You will want to direct your buses to the intersection of E Anderson St and S Rosalind Ave (see embedded map). Depending on your assigned performance venue (see schedule, below), you will either unload at the Anderson St entrance to the Dr. Phillips Center, just to the west of the intersection, or at the loading dock on the back (east) side of the DPC, just to the north of the intersection. Please have your buses approach your drop-off FROM that Anderson/Rosalind intersection.

Driving Directions from I-4, coming from the WEST
1. Take I-4 EAST to the South Street Exit (82B)
2. The exit curves to the right
3. Turn RIGHT onto South St
4. Turn RIGHT onto Orange Avenue
5. Turn LEFT onto Anderson St
6. Turn LEFT onto Rosalind Ave

Driving Directions from I-4, coming from the EAST
1. Take I-4 West to the Anderson Street Exit (82C)
2. Turn LEFT onto Anderson St
3. Turn LEFT onto S. Rosalind Ave

Driving Directions from the 408 East-West Expressway, from the WEST
1. Take 408 East to the Orange Avenue Exit (10C)
2. Turn LEFT onto SR527 (becomes Rosalind Ave, north of SR408)

Driving Directions from the 408 East-West Expressway, from the EAST
1. Take 408 West to the Rosalind Street Exit (11A)
2. Turn LEFT onto South St
3. Turn LEFT onto Orange Avenue
4. Turn LEFT onto Anderson St
5. Turn LEFT onto S. Rosalind Ave

BUS and OTHER PARKING
Bus parking, throughout the day and evening, will be along S. Magnolia Ave, immediately in front (west side) of the Dr. Phillips Center. After arrival & drop-off:

• buses dropping off at the loading dock should then continue north on S. Rosalind, turn left (West) on South St, and then left (South) to park along S. Magnolia
• buses dropping off at the Anderson St. entrance should then continue west on Anderson St, turning right (North) to park along S. Magnolia.

For GENERAL PARKING (private vehicles), we recommend using either the City Commons Parking Garage at the corner of South St and Boone Ave, or at the Orange County Administration Building Parking Garage (both pay-to-park) on Liberty St. Private cars will not be allowed in the loading dock or bus parking areas.

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Equipment

Please plan to use the percussion equipment that will be provided (see separate listing, below). Along with the program and setup diagram information that we are requesting from you, we will also be asking that you provide a list of percussion needs for your ensemble’s performance.

Your percussionists should plan to bring their own sticks & mallets, and from your list you will be informed of any unique instruments that we are unable to facilitate. Once again – beyond what we will be providing, please do not plan to bring any of your own large percussion equipment.

Percussion Equipment Provided Will Include:
(4) timpani + throne
(1) 5-octave marimba
(1) 3.5-octave vibraphone
(1) xylophone
(1) glockenspiel
(1) set of chimes
(1) concert bass drum
(1) tam-tam + stand
(1) suspended cymbal + stand
(1) pair of crash cymbals + stand
(1) trap table + stand

STORAGE
Please see the table below for storage space assignments for those who requested it. Schools that did NOT request storage space should leave instrument cases and other items (anything that will not be needed for your performance & clinic) on your buses. Once through security, if you requested it, you will be led to your assigned storage space and then to the pre-performance staging area for your performance venue (Steinmetz Hall or the Walt Disney Theatre).

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Dr. Phillips Center

ARRIVAL
Each band participating in this year’s festival has an arrival time assigned to them (see schedule, below). HOWEVER, we also recognize that you might wish to consider including in your trip schedule watching and supporting other groups’ performances (and we encourage this). Whatever you decide, we ask that you please call (561) 315-1329 when your buses are 15-20 minutes from the Dr. Phillips Center and coordinate with our onsite band guide coordinator, Ms. Kaitlin Oresky. Ms. Oresky will make sure that you are comfortable with where to go when you get to the DPC, will be certain that at least one of our band guides is there to meet you, and will see to it that you know where and how to go once you get off your buses to enter the facility. We hope that you will include plans to support other groups, whether before and/or after your own.

ENTERING THE DR. PHILLIPS CENTER (DPC)*
The security lists that each director submitted have been forwarded to the DPC staff, and while these will expedite building entry, everyone will still be required to go through a security checkpoint at building (loading dock) entry. To facilitate the smoothest possible entry, allowing our event to remain on schedule, we ask both that you advise patience from all in your party and that you see to the following:

1. PLAN FOR TRAFFIC. even with only typical I-4 & downtown traffic, please build additional time into your travel planning.
   
2. TRAVEL IN PERFORMANCE ATTIRE. There will be neither facilities nor time for changing.
   
3. BRING ONLY THE ITEMS YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY NEED TO BRING INTO THE DPC. Bags and cases will all be checked at the security checkpoint, so to help avoid backing the line up any more than necessary, please instruct students not to bring any extra bags or backpacks with them into the facility.
4. A Band Guide from the UCF Bands will meet your bus upon arrival and will escort you and your party from your first arrival all the way to your departure, following your performance and clinic. When they greet you they will hand you a Directors Packet that includes color-coded wristbands for your entire party. EVERY STUDENT, DIRECTOR & CHAPERONE that will be entering through the security entrance must be wearing a wristband. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THE WRISTBANDS UNTIL THE END OF THE EVENING UCF BANDS CONCERT. These will serve as your tickets for entry to all venues in the Dr. Phillips Center. Anyone without a wristband will be expected to have a ticket to enter the performance venues.

HOMEROOMS & STORAGE (for those who requested storage space)
Your group will remain in the loading dock holding area until your entire party is through security. Once everyone is through security, your Band Guide will escort you either to your assigned homeroom – if you requested storage – where your students should leave cases and other belongings, and then to the entry point for your assigned performance center (either Steinmetz Hall or the Walt Disney Theatre). Only those items necessary for your performance & clinic (instruments, music folders, sticks & mallets, etc.) should be taken onstage.
PLEASE NOTE: If you arrive early to watch other bands, you will either be escorted to your assigned storage space (if previously requested) to leave instruments & equipment, then back out of the building to walk around to the front (main lobby) entrance and to the performance venues, or you will be directed right to the main lobby entrance (if you didn’t request storage). When it is time for you to prepare for your performance you’ll exit the building via the main lobby and proceed back to your instruments & equipment (buses or assigned storage space) to then proceed to the appropriate backstage staging area, reentering the building through your assigned security entrance (show your wrist bands at the security entrance). Please give yourselves ample time to get back to & through the security entrance and to the backstage area for your warmup and performance within ten (10) minutes of your scheduled warmup time, and please contact our band guide coordinator, Ms. Oresky (see above) so she can have a band guide waiting for you. NOTE: Please do NOT proceed to the backstage area more than ten (10) minutes ahead of your scheduled warmup time, to avoid creating congestion in the corridors with other participating ensembles.

ROUTING WITHIN THE DPC
Your band guide should stay with you through the completion of your clinic, directing you and your students where to go and how to get to and from each center (performance & clinic), as well as storage and building exit. If you wish to familiarize yourself with your group’s routing in advance of your arrival, you can also select the thumbnail captions below or the links here to bring up diagrams of the main level, 2nd level, and 3rd level of the Dr. Phillips Center that include travel pathways, instructions, and descriptions. Printed copies of these same diagrams will also be included in the Directors Packet that your band guide presents to you upon your arrival.

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Performance & Clinic

STAGE ENTRANCE
UCF Bands staff will have the stage set up for your ensemble, based on the setup diagram that you submitted. A member of our volunteer staff will also meet you at the stage entrance to take the clinicians’ copies of your scores (please bring three clinicians’ copies of each score if you are able), and will then return those to you, along with your completed evaluation sheets, at your clinic venue. You may send your percussionists on stage a few minutes early to set their equipment to their liking, but our hope is that the diagram you submit will be as detailed as possible, including how you would like percussion instruments set.

• Each ensemble will have approximately 10 minutes for onstage warmup prior to performance (dependent on each group entering & exiting the stage in an orderly & efficient manner) and 30 minutes for performance, followed by a 20-minute clinic. NOTE: it is very important that we remain on schedule. There will be a timer onstage to communicate with each director. Groups that practice an extended warmup will have that extra time deducted from their performance time allotment. Ensembles may be stopped if they go beyond the end of their total performance time allotment.
• Ensembles assigned to the Feature Stage (Steinmetz Hall) will move immediately following their performance to the DeVos Family Room for their clinic session.
• Ensembles assigned to the Invited Stage Walt Disney Theatre) will move immediately following their performance to the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theatre for their clinic.
• Once again, please understand that to remain on time in what will be a tightly scheduled day, your combined allotted warmup & performance times must begin once your ensemble is situated onstage and that any delays on the part of an ensemble will eat into their performance time.

Your performance will be professionally recorded (audio & video). Media files will be shared with you digitally, as soon as possible, post-event. Educational critique from our panel of clinicians will also be shared with you. Immediately following your performance, we are pleased for you and your students to enjoy an individual clinic session with one of our esteemed clinician-educator panelists.

Following your performance and clinic, you and your students will be escorted back to your home room to collect cases and other belongings, or to the bus parking.

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Family & Supporters

As with prior festivals, we have been able to coordinate with the DPC staff to facilitate your supporters having access to attend your performance. To that end, please note the following:

• ALL non-performing personnel (anyone other than the performing ensemble members, directors, and designated chaperones included on your security list) should enter the building through the main lobby entrance. Family and other supporters should NOT plan to go into any of the backstage areas of the DPC. THIS INCLUDES any additional students from your school who are not members of the ensemble that is performing at the festival.
• *NEW in 2023* Tickets will be required for family and other supporters (all non-performing personnel) for access to performing centers at all times, day and evening. Tickets can be obtained online in advance (preferred – see below) or on the day of, at the DPC main lobby ticket window.
• Tickets for all day-time invitational activities are $10.00 ea. Each ticket is good for the entirety of the daytime invitational (8:00 AM – 4:00 PM).
• The evening UCF Bands Concert will be ticketed separately. Tickets can be obtained online in advance (preferred) or on the day of, at the DPC main lobby ticket window.
• Regrettably, for security reasons, parents and other supporters cannot be allowed to attend the clinics in the DeVos Family Room.

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The Rest of Your Day

STORAGE (for those who requested storage space)
Following your performance & clinic, if you requested storage space, you and your students will be escorted back to your home room area and then you will have two options with regard to cases and other items for the remainder of the day:

1. You may return these items to your buses
2. Should you wish, you may store these items in the DPC in a pre-assigned space. PLEASE NOTE that if you would like to exercise this option, you will be asked in advance to provide an estimated “footprint” for the amount of space needed (see below) and once secured there, following your performance & clinic, you will not have access to these items until the end of that evening’s UCF Bands concert. Further information will be provided.

If you did not specifically request storage for your group, after completion of your clinic session you will be escorted down the grand staircase to the main lobby entrance of the DPC where you will exit the building to return instruments & other items to your buses. You may reenter the DPC through the main lobby entrance to watch other ensembles’ performances. REMEMBER that your color-coded wristbands are your tickets back into the building.

• So that our participating bands can enjoy audience feedback in addition to what they receive from our clinicians, we encourage you all to consider including in your day’s plans attending & supporting the performance of at least one other band, if not multiple. We simply ask that you remain attentive to your own assigned arrival, warmup, performance & clinic times, so we can remain on schedule, and that you encourage your students to be the most respectful, supportive patrons possible.
• Please remember that all members of your performing party should keep their wrist bands on throughout the entirety of your stay (including the evening concert). They will serve as tickets for entrance to both the daytime festival and the evening concert.
• FOOD TRUCKS will be on site from 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM, parked in the plaza directly in front of the DPC. Please select from the following links to view menu & pricing information:
  1. Rubios Baja Grill
  2. The Big Cheese
  3. The Wandering Goat

Once your equipment is dealt with, you and your students may go back into Steinmetz Hall or Walt Disney Theatre (performance centers) to watch other bands from the house seating. We simply ask that your students be a respectful audience for the ensembles on stage and that no food or drink of any kind be brought into either hall. PLEASE NOTE: if you choose to stay and watch other groups, your entire party must remain only in Steinmetz Hall or Walt Disney Theatre houses. We encourage you to visit our sponsors’ displays in the DPC lobby, but the lobby should not be used as a social or gathering space.

Should you choose not to watch other ensembles, there is certainly plenty to do in the Downtown Orlando area, at your pleasure. Please just understand that you should plan to be back to the DPC main entrance by 6:45-7:00 PM to enter the hall for the evening UCF Bands concert, and should plan for traffic in returning to the facility. Please be reminded that your group’s attendance at the evening UCF Bands concert in Steinmetz Hall is not optional. By accepting the invitation to participate in the Music for All UCF-Orlando Concert Band Invitational you also acknowledged this understanding.

You will not receive printed tickets to the evening concert this year. As previously described, the color-coded wristbands issued to you upon arrival will serve as your group’s ticket for entry to the UCF Bands concert. Our box office management will have pre-assigned seating blocks for each school group so when you enter (as a group, please), box office and lobby staff will take you to your seating area in Steinmetz Hall.

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Schedule & Program

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Music for All Information

As you are already aware, Music for All is an organization dedicated to creating, providing, and expanding “positively life changing experiences” for participants in scholastic music education through programs, events, and active advocacy and collaboration with others. One such event is the MFA-Sponsored Affiliate Regional Music Festival, such as this one: an educational event promoting a non-competitive environment through which participating directors and students can learn through the written and recorded feedback of acknowledged experts in the field of instrumental music education.

You will leave with your completed clinician evaluation sheets. Digital media files will be shared shortly after the fact, including clinicians’ audio comments and performance recording.

One director from this Affiliate Regional Music Festival will be selected to receive a partial scholarship toward attending the Music for All Director Academy at the 2023 Summer Symposium, presented by Yamaha, June 26-July 1 at Ball State University in Muncie, IN.

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Information Submission

Using the dialogue boxes, below, please upload the requested information in the formats indicated as soon as you’re able. A submission deadline will be indicated once established, so please continue to monitor e-mail and this page for that and other information updates.

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