The Wisconsin School Music Association and Its Contests: The Early Years

Many factors contributed to the dramatic nationwide increase in instrumental music instruction in American public schools from approximately 1915 to 1935, a period commonly referred to as the school band movement era. Band contests, the instrument manufacturing industry, and a trend toward broadening school curricula all contributed to this development. This study traces the history of the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) from its early days in 1920 through the height of school music contest activity in the early 1930s and up to the outbreak of World War II. In addition to being the first known association of and for school bands in this country, the WSMA sponsored for many years the largest school band tournaments in the United States. The WSMA also seems to have contributed a portion of its constitution to that of the National School Band Association and spearheaded the move from competitive ranking of bands to festival ratings--developments that have remained with the field to this day.