General Guidelines to Student Activities

By entering NJMTA’s events, parents give permission to the New Jersey Music Teachers Association, Inc.(NJMTA) to use photographs of your child taken by NJMTA representative, with appropriate captions, in NJMTA publications, or on the NJMTA website and in the local newspapers.  If you do not wish NJMTA to use your child’s photos in NJMTA publications, on the NJMTA website, social media or in the local newspapers, kindly notify the event chairperson. (njmtanews@gmail.com)    


Requirements for Teacher Participation

NJMTA Cooperative Teacher Work Requirements

 The New Jersey Music Teachers Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of educators working to promote musical excellence and to motivate students to strive for quality standards. The NJMTA Board is a small group of volunteers who devote many hours to the execution of the group’s purpose.

It is an enormous endeavor to organize and operate a volunteer organization such as our association. We need you, the teachers, to participate actively in order to maintain the same high quality that has made this organization so valuable to the students of New Jersey. With every event, there is a myriad of important details that must come together to make them successful.

Please read the following paragraphs carefully.

TEACHER PARTICIPATION

The Board of Directors has instituted the following policies

  • To remain a member in good standing, all teachers who enter students in any event must help and assist in the execution of that event. Job choices are listed on the online registration form and must be completed before submission.

  • At the discretion of the Student Activities Coordinator(s), teachers in poor health may be excused from assisting.

  • A Teacher Duty deposit fee is required for most events. Please read each event’s guidelines carefully to ensure the correct duty deposit fee is submitted. The duty deposit fee will be refunded when the duty has been completed.

 Penalties for Failure to Comply with Teacher Duty Requirements:

  • If the assigned teacher (or the substitute) fails to appear twice at an event for which they have registered to help, without just cause and notification, they will be subject to the following penalties:

  • The first time a teachers fails to appear for volunteer activities for which they have registered, they will receive a warning.

    1. The second time a teachers fails to appear for volunteer activities for which they have registered, they will not be permitted to register their students for NJMTA events the following year.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL NJMTA EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

Students of all levels are invited to participate in NJMTA events, as long as the following requirements are met:

1. The student or the teacher is a resident of New Jersey or:
2. The lessons take place in New Jersey

All NJMTA events (except Piano Festival) require that the student has studied with the current teacher for at least six months preceding the event. Piano Festival is exempt from this rule.

TEACHER ELIGIBILITY

The teacher who enters the student must be that student’s primary teacher in the area of performance. In the case of piano ensemble or piano with string/woodwind combination, the coach who is a member of NJMTA can also enter students. 

NJMTA Member Teachers 

Teachers must be members of MTNA and NJMTA in good standing (with the exception of Chinese Instrument events), and must have paid their dues by September 1, 2023 for 2023 Fall Events, or January 1, 2024 for 2024 Spring Events. An exception to the January 1st payment of teacher dues will be granted to a teacher joining NJMTA for the very first time. The one-time exception will allow the teacher to pay state dues on or before the postmarked deadline of the Spring events.

An NJMTA member with a Student Membership may not enter students. The teacher and the entrant may not be the same individual.

Teacher Duty Deposit Fee

Member teachers are required to pay appropriate registration fees and Teacher Duty Deposit fees for all events involving participation of students. The teachers are requested to assist at the events, or forfeit their deposit in lieu of serving a” teacher duty”. The fee is refunded when the teacher completes his/her duty.

Non-NJMTA Member Teachers (for Fall Events Only)

 Non-members are required to pay the student(s) registration fee, a Teacher Entry Fee of $150 per event, and the Teacher Duty Deposit fee (described above), or have the option of becoming a member of MTNA and NJMTA. 

REGISTRATION FEES

Registration Fees are non-refundable for all NJMTA events.

Please check the Fees page for details.

REGISTRATION FORMS

Electronic registration forms are available on each event page. Once the registration form has been submitted and accepted by the chairperson, names of students cannot be substituted.

REPERTOIRE

Please check repertoire requirements for each event. It is recommended that for the benefit of the judges all music scores have measures numbered. For your reference a composer classification list is available.

ORIGINAL MUSIC  

Unless the music is out of print, all original music must be provided to the judges. For out-of-print or downloaded music, students must submit the Copyright Music Release Form to the judges at the time of audition. Students using electronic reading devices must show proof of music purchase or sign a release stating that the music is in the public domain.

MEMORIZATION

All solo music must be memorized for students participating in Piano, Voice and Chinese Instrument auditions/competitions.

For string instruments, memorization is optional for the Recital Audition, but is required for the Young Musicians Competition.

Memorization is optional for Woodwinds/Brass/Percussion instruments as well as Piano Duets and Ensembles.

ADJUDICATION

In all NJMTA events, judges' decisions are final.

DRESS CODE

It is the teacher's responsibility to convey the dress code information to their students. The dress code applies to all student activities: auditions, competitions, festivals and recitals.  Following dress code is strongly encouraged. GIRLS should wear a dress, skirt, or dress slacks with a blouse or sweater. No jeans permitted. Dresses and skirts should be at least knee length when seated. Pants must be full length – no capris. Leggings are permitted under dressy tops. Dress shoes with heels attached or dress sandals with backs are allowed. No sneakers, flip-flops, casual sandals, boots or platform shoes. Colored nail polish, rings and bracelets are not allowed. BOYS should wear a suit or dress slacks with dress shirt, sweater, or sports coat. Ties are optional. No jeans or sneakers, please!

ACCOMPANISTS

Teachers and/or their students are responsible for obtaining and appropriately compensating their own accompanists prior to the event. In order to avoid scheduling conflicts with other students using the same accompanist, teachers MUST list the accompanist’s name on the registration forms prior to submission. Teachers may not accompany their students in auditions. NJMTA will provide a recommended list of accompanists upon request.

NAME CORRECTIONS ON CERTIFICATES AND AWARDS

Teachers are responsible for checking the spelling of each student’s name at the time of registration. The student’s name will be printed on any certificates or awards exactly as it appears on their registration form. 

If a student’s name is printed incorrectly on a certificate or award:
The corrected name must be sent to the event chairperson by a deadline specified by that chairperson in order to receive a replacement. If the spelling on the certificate/award matches the spelling given by the teacher on the student’s registration form, the error will be considered the responsibility of the teacher and they shall be charged an award replacement fee. If the spelling on the certificate/award does not match the spelling given by the teacher on the student’s registration form, the error will be considered the responsibility of NJMTA and the teacher shall not be charged an award replacement fee. The corrected certificates/awards will be available by the next NJMTA event or by a deadline specified by the event chairperson. Name corrections on certificates/awards will NOT be made after a certain date, to be determined by the event chairperson.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO TAPING

No videotaping or photography is allowed in auditions or competitions, including Spring Festivals. However, during recitals and winners’ concerts, video cameras may be set up at the back of the recital hall and photographers are requested to stay there during the recital. No flash photography is allowed. There will be ample opportunity to take both group and individual photographs at the end of each recital and concert.

PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS

Should there be any problems, the teacher should contact the appropriate event chairperson. Under NO circumstance should the chairpersons’ contact information(email addresses or phone numbers) be given to parents. All communications may only be between the teacher and the chairperson of the event.



By participating in any NJMTA event, parents give permission to the New Jersey Music Teachers Association(NJMTA) to use photographs or videos of your child taken by NJMTA representative, with appropriate captions, in NJMTA publications, on the NJMTA website, social media and/or in the local newspapers. If you do not wish NJMTA to use your child’s photos/videos in any way, kindly notify the chairperson of the event in which your child is participating.