The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) announced on April 14 that the University of Missouri will host the 74th State Music Festival from April 30 to May 2. The event will feature a total of 4,820 performances by students from 357 schools across the state.
The festival is significant as it brings together high school musicians who qualified by earning an Exemplary rating at their district festivals. These students will perform in front of nationally recognized adjudicators, who will provide evaluations and ratings. All performances are scheduled to take place at several venues on the university campus, including the Fine Arts Building, Memorial Union, Tate Hall, McKee Gymnasium, Stewart Hall and Sinquefield Music Center.
Performances are free and open to the public each day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with daily schedules available in the Music Activities section of mshsaa.org. In celebration of MSHSAA’s centennial year, a special arrangement of the national anthem will be performed every day at 12:15 p.m. by a combined ensemble made up of qualified students, directors and faculty musicians from across Missouri.
A breakdown provided by MSHSAA shows that vocal performances account for more than two thousand entries this year, while instrumental categories such as woodwinds and brass also have strong representation. Historical data indicates that participation levels fluctuate annually; for example, there were over five thousand total performances in both 2016 and last year’s event.
In recent years, participation was affected by circumstances such as the pandemic in 2020 when no state festival was held and a virtual format was used in some years following. The association encourages those interested to visit mshsaa.org for more information about centennial events or daily performance schedules.
