More than 175 students in the Rocky Point School District performed in the New York State School Music Association Solo/Ensemble Evaluation Festival held at Rocky Point Middle School/High School on May 30 and 31. The purpose of the festival is to provide students the opportunity to perform for a certified Music Educator/Adjudicator so they may receive an objective evaluation of their musical proficiency and aptitude. This evaluation not only reinforces the positive aspects of a student’s performance but also offers helpful suggestions for improvement. Students receive an evaluation sheet that includes written comments and an assessment on their performance. Students are evaluated in several categories including accuracy of notes/rhythms, tone, technique, intonation, scales and sight-reading. Students learn what they did well and what they can do to further their musical growth and development.

Students prepared solo and small ensemble pieces of music from the NYSSMA approved manual of repertoire in difficulty levels I-VI, where VI is the most advanced. Additionally, 20 students prepared a Level VI All-State solo, with the hopes of receiving an invitation to participate with one of the NYSSMA All-State performing ensembles at the NYSSMA Winter Conference in Rochester, NY in December 2025.

Levels I-IV are evaluated on a rating scale of 1-28 and Levels V-VI are evaluated on a scale of 1-100. The evaluation categories for NYSSMA Levels I-IV are:
26-28 Outstanding; 21-25 Excellent; 16-20 Good; 11-15 Satisfactory. An Outstanding Rating is given only to a performer who displays a distinguished level of accomplishment.
The evaluation categories for NYSSMA Levels V-VI are:
A+ 97-100, A 93-96, A- 90-92, B+ 87-89, B 83-86, B- 80-82

The Rocky Point Music Department is proud to announce that 91 students received an “OUTSTANDING” rating, and 35 students received an “EXCELLENT” rating for Levels I-IV, while 33 students received an “A+” rating and seven students received an “A” rating for Levels V-VI. This includes 41 perfect scores!

A congratulatory message from Rocky Point Music Department chairpersons Mr. Craig Knapp and Ms. Amy Schecher read: “We are very proud of all the students who performed at the NYSSMA Solo/Ensemble Festival. Your hard work, dedication and talent truly contribute to the superb music program we have in Rocky Point. We would also like to thank our incredibly enthusiastic and dedicated music faculty for helping to prepare the students for this annual festival. In addition to taking ample time to prepare their students, our staff members were incredibly helpful and giving of their time as we had the responsibility of hosting this festival. Running a festival of this magnitude, with more than 1,200 students from across eastern Long Island, could not have been successful without the assistance of our devoted faculty and the 60+ student volunteers who donated several hours of their time over the course of the weekend to help. These students (many of whom also performed at the festival), were greeters, room attendants, evaluation sheet runners, assisted with setup and breakdown and more. We are so lucky to have such willing students contribute to the success of this festival. There is no way we could have pulled this off without them! We were told by many of the NYSSMA adjudicators and representatives that the Rocky Point NYSSMA Solo Festival was the smoothest festival of the entire Spring NYSSMA season! We are very proud of that! Thank you to all the families of these student musicians and thank you to the administrators and Board of Education members in Rocky Point for their continued support of our music programs. This was a truly remarkable weekend of music making! The students are to be acknowledged and congratulated for their stellar achievements and contributions!”