2014 Area Keyboard Festivals

Information regarding 2014 locations will be posted once available.

Some FAQ’s about the Keyboard Festivals:

• When are they held?

  Last full weekend of every January

  For 2014: Thursday, January 23 through Saturday, January 25.

• Where are they held?

  In 5 areas of the state.

• Who can participate?

  Piano students in grades 1-12; NO KINDERGARTEN PLEASE.

  Organ Students grades 5-12.

• Is there a deadline to register?

  YES. Friday, December 6, 2013.

• How do I register?

  Three ways:

  1. Print and use the piano registration form or the organ registration form, once they are available.
  2. Piano/organ teachers register their students by printing out registration form.
  3. Call the church music office for a registration form (keyboard handbook).
• Is there a registration fee?

  Yes, $8 per participant payable by check or money order to Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (or MBCB). Teachers should mail all registration forms together in one envelope with one check for total amount of registrations. (Be sure to keep a copy of the registration form for yourself.)

• What category should I choose?

  Category I (grades 1-3) and IA (grades 4-12) are for beginning piano students who are not ready to play from a hymnal. They will play a simple arrangement (C position, middle C position or one hand melody/one hand chords from a piano supplement book. This selection must be memorized.

  Categories II and IIA are for any grades. Category III is designed for grades 4-12, and Category IV is designed for grades 10-12.

  Categories II, IIA, III, and IV will use the 1991 edition of The Baptist Hymnal or another hymnal. In Categories IIA, III and IV, the student will follow a music director as the congregation sings the hymn the student has chosen to present. Categories II and IIA may use the 1991 edition of The Baptist Hymnal Simplified. In Category III, in addition to the hymn, an arrangement of the same hymn is played (not memorized). In Category IV, the hymn, an arrangement, and a memorized traditional selection is presented. The students in Category IV will participate in one of three proficiencies (for each year of participation) in the area of sight reading, modulation/transposition, or accompanying. The anthem used for accompanying is available through the Church Music Office at no cost.

Call Wyndy South in the Church Music Department locally at 601-292-3272, or statewide, 1-800-748-1651, x 272 for questions. Her email: wsouth@mbcb.org.