In the state where show choir began, there has always been the question of who the top dog is. Well, two competitions have attempted to answer that question - the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) has held a state competition since 2006, while Noblesville High School recently decided to host a competition billed as the ‘Indiana Championships’ during the 2024 season. This has led to many people asking the question - what’s the difference?
How do these competitions work?
ISSMA, a sanctioning body for high school music in the state, has put on a state championship since 2006. The first three iterations were a single event, but in 2009 ISSMA switched to hosting two separate state championships, one for small schools and one for large schools. ISSMA determines this by school population. According to the ISSMA Highlights and Rule Changes for 2024-2025, “A Large School shall be defined as 1450 students or more, and a small school as 1449 students or fewer, based upon Department of Education enrollment statistics from 2023-2024 school year.” To be considered for the ISSMA State Finals, a school must notify ISSMA that they want to be considered, and then attend at least one ISSMA qualifying site. These are competitions that are scored through the ISSMA rubric for show choir. If a choir attends multiple ISSMA qualifying sites, then their top two highest scores are averaged out for one score. On the Sunday after the last competition weekend in March, which is typically the second week in March, ISSMA will go through all of the ISSMA site scores and take the top nine highest scoring schools in each division and randomly draw their order of performance and announce them around 2:00 PM.
Noblesville, which just started its competition in 2024, holds a one-day event, and instead of school population (as divisions were in 2024), divisions in 2025 will be by group size. If a choir has 44 singers or more then they are considered Tier I, which means if they have 43 singers or less then they are considered Tier II. It starts as an open registration; however, depending on registration numbers, they request video samples of competition shows to be evaluated by an out-of-state committee to qualify to compete. Noblesville doesn’t take more than 20 total choirs, which means that there can be up to five in each division.
Both competitions are judged by an out-of-state judging panel to hopefully lessen any bias towards any of the possible competing choirs.
What does each competition day look like?
The ISSMA State Finals have a very different feel compared to traditional show choir competitions. At any ISSMA qualifying site, and therefore also at state finals, there are strict rules to be followed. One of the most prominent is that you are not allowed to sing or dance outside of the warm-up room and the performance space. This typically leaves what some consider to be the “fun” out of a normal show choir competition, but gives it the opportunity for everyone to stay focused and ready for their performance. A choir has three main events at this competition. They have an optional “pre-warm-up” ; this is a non-vocal warm up, where the choir can only dance and stretch. It also gives choirs time to create a strategy for what they want to target in warm-up. Then they travel to their “warm-up” which is vocals AND choreography; it follows the typical warm-up format and is up to the choir’s discretion for how they handle their warm-up. Then, they finally transfer to their performance. Afterwards, there is no clinic, critique or workshop.
Noblesville’s Indiana Show Choir Championship has a more traditional show choir competition feeling. It had multiple outside vendors in its “Vendor Village”, and had an Activity Center where if you were not watching show choirs, you could play cornhole as well as card and board games in the gymnasium. It also had a traditional performance schedule, with a traditional warm-up followed by a choir's performance. There was no clinic or workshop following the performance, similar to ISSMA.
What choirs attend these competitions?
For context, March 22, 2025 will be a massive day for show choir both in Indiana and across the country. Show Choir Nationals in Nashville and Heart of America Los Angeles land on the same day as both ISSMA and Noblesville. Several choirs have opted to travel, leaving the lineups of the in-state competitions uncertain.
With only one year in the books, it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions about the characteristics of Noblesville’s fields. When it comes to the ISSMA Finals, the Indianapolis “big three” did not attend in 2024. Center Grove has never attended the ISSMA Finals, but they decided to attend Noblesville in 2024. In 2025, they will be attending Heart of America Los Angeles on the traditional “state” weekend. Carmel originally attended the ISSMA Finals but stopped soon after the split in divisions and will be attending Show Choir Nationals in Nashville in the 2025 season, again opting out of either competition. Franklin Central recently stopped attending ISSMA after 2023, choosing Noblesville in 2024, but will not be attending any sort of state/national competition in 2025. Fishers High School will not defend its three-year winning streak at ISSMA, opting to choose Heart of America’s Los Angeles location as well. Other notable Indianapolis schools like Avon, Plainfield, as well as southern Indiana stalwart Castle, have regularly attended the ISSMA state competition, and all three are likely to return to the large finals in 2025.
How do awards work?
ISSMA has recently started to only announce the top four placements instead of all nine placements. If a choir is not in the top four, they receive a “State Finalist” trophy. If a choir places in the top four, they will receive a trophy with its exact placement noted. There are also the traditional caption awards of Best Vocals, Best Visuals, and Best Instrumentals.
Noblesville announces the full placements of each division, although the divisions are smaller at five choirs each. They gave out awards such as Best Costumes, Best Show Design, Best Soloists, and Best Crew. The additional captions makes Noblesville a more familiar experience for those used to a slew of captions at the end of the competition.
What is the controversy with these two competitions?
The decision by ISSMA to classify divisions on overall school enrollment has given rise to a theory held by some that it is simply the biggest, most well-funded groups that win each year. The reasoning to use school size is due to how much funding is given to schools through the Indiana Department of Education. While this can have some merit, it causes a lot of controversy because in the small school finals (and perhaps occasionally in the large school finals), you will see groups of less than 30 singer-dancers compete with groups of 40, 50, or even more members. There also have been some controversial scoring instances during the ISSMA Finals. Whatever the cause may be, there is a laundry list of state placements from the last 15 years that just don't sit well with uninvolved observers.
There has been action by some directors in Indiana to change the ISSMA system in hopes of giving it a needed refresh. Michael Dean, the director at New Palestine High School and a member of the ISSMA State Board, sent out a survey to any adjudicators, clinicians, choreographers, and directors who have had experience with the ISSMA-sanctioned events. This gives directors the opportunity to voice their opinions towards why they have avoided these events and what can change. While change is unlikely to occur before the 2025 state finals, there is plenty of time for changes to be made in the future and reinvigorate what has become a stale state finals.
The advent of the Noblesville Indiana Championships certainly caused its fair share of controversy in show choir land as well. Arguments against the competition usually come down to two main points. First of all, this is a second ‘state championship’-style event that dilutes the value of both “state champions.” How can there be, in good standing, two state champions of Indiana show choir? It doesn’t make sense and some view it as a coup against the longstanding ISSMA structure of crowning a champion. The second reason is that this is an unsanctioned championship. While groups may need to qualify for the event if more than five choirs in the division register, a choir may be able to get in a less popular division regardless of skill level. Additionally, there is no official entity endorsing Noblesville as a ‘championship’-style event.
Looking ahead, the future of Indiana state competitions remains unclear. The contrast between this well-beaten path that ISSMA has provided and Noblesville’s new concept has emphasized the continuing debate about fairness, inclusiveness, and the overall utility of a state championship. Among directors, participants, and fans alike, consensus on what makes Indiana show choir excellence stands in front as changes are being made, therefore setting possible reforms and adaptations for the future.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect division sorting at Noblesville.
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