About FVA

According to a brief resume by A. K. Dickinson of the Tourist and Convention Bureau of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the first Florida High School Music Festival was held in 1928 in the city of Tampa. The first festivals were sponsored annually and conducted by M. L. Price of the Price Music Company of Tampa. Later they were sponsored by the University of Tampa and Mr. Price.

In 1936, festivals came under the supervision of the Convention and Tourist Bureau of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Attendance in that year was 1500 students. In 1938, letterhead stationery bore the name of “Florida High School Music Festival Association, Inc.” It must have been the first year for corporation officers. From the inception of the Tampa Music Festival until the early 1930’s, the Festival was dominated by orchestras and vocal groups. With the decline of school orchestras and the rapid growth of the band movement, the trend of choral domination at the Festival was reversed by 1936. The band directors organized their own association in July, 1936, and it was only a matter of time before the bands withdrew from participating in the Tampa Festival. By 1940 the vocal and orchestral groups were still united in festival participation. In that year there were 70 schools and 2695 students in attendance. Plaques and medals were given to groups and students for the first time that year.

Because of his concern over the stability of the Festival, and the strength of the newly formed band association, Peter J. Gustat, much respected Florida pioneer music educator, suggested that the vocal teachers of the state organize. Thus, the Florida Vocal Association was born in April, 1937, at Tampa with Gustat serving as the first president. The FVA held its first vocal clinic at Stetson University in December, 1938. Harold Giffin and Christopher Honaas directed a clinic choir of twenty-eight students and twelve directors. In 1949 FVA affiliated with the Florida Music Education Association. The vocal association continued to hold the State Competition-Festival at Tampa until 1962, when for the first time the Festival was held in Daytona Beach. The organization, formed mainly for festival purposes in the beginning, expanded its activities to include the selection and operation of All-State choruses as a part of the FMEA Clinic-Conference.

During the 1966–67 school year, the Florida State Vocal Association (composed of most of the Black vocal teachers) was united with the FVA. The enlarged organization required that two centers be used for the State Festivals and membership soared to nearly 400.

In 1975 another activity, a summertime convention, was added and now FVA Summer Conference welcomes more than 250 directors to its reading sessions and workshops each July.

By 1999, fva.net was on the Internet. The site was operated at that time by Kevin Albright. In 2006, the site was redesigned by Jussi Doherty, who managed FVA’s online presence for over a decade.

Currently, FVA sponsors 6 All-State choruses, including an All-State Reading Chorus, unique in the country; and welcomes to rehearsals and the podium the finest of America’s choral conductors. The festivals of the past have been developed into Music Performance Assessments. Entries have grown from 4,101 in 1966 to over 17,000 from 7,000-plus students in more than 200 schools. Association membership is over 800 directors in public, charter, and private schools in Florida.