AUDITION RULES, PROCEDURES & INFO

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2019_audition_information.pdf
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AUDITIONS PANEL DISCUSSION
A special panel will be held with San Diego music professionals discussing how to prepare for auditions and jobs in the Classical, Musical Theatre and CCM fields. The panel will be held between the Preliminary Round and the Finals Concert. All are invited to attend and to submit questions. Panelists to be announced!

THE SPARROW AWARD ~ PAULINE TWEED SACRED MUSIC MEMORIAL AWARD 2019
A gift from the Tweed Family, this special award is open to singers in High School and Collegiate divisions. Students wishing to be considered for this prize will include a sacred selection as part of their required repertoire. Adjudicators in each division will decide on the recipient of the prize.
  • Repertoire for Sparrow Award: Prepare one sacred song from classical/folk/spiritual repertoire (in English or any foreign language) that meets a repertoire requirement in your division. Classical sacred to include oratorio, mass or motet.
  • Please choose *Sparrow Award Selection* from the Selection Type drop down box when inputting your repertoire into AuditionWare to indicate a desire to be considered for this award.

Make sure to check out the Audition Categories and Repertoire Requirements.

UPDATES TO AUDITION REQUIREMENTS (2019)
  • Category - All categories are defined by voice type.
    • Treble: Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Contralto, Countertenor.
    • TBB: Tenor, Baritone, Bass
  • English Art Song requirement - English must be original language
  • Musical Theatre repertoire - description expanded

*STUDENT AUDITIONS RULES & PROCEDURES 
  • "Years of Study" shall constitute a completed year of study. If a student has completed any portion of a year, beyond a year, student must automatically advance to the higher category. Therefore, if a student has had 2.5 years of study the student should enter in the 3-5 years of study category, regardless of age.
  • Repertoire must meet the requirements of the categories described above and must represent diverse styles, composers, and musical periods.
  • Repertoire should not have been used in previous Student Auditions. It is advised that students keep a copy of their application/s to avoid disqualification.  
  • The student may choose the selection he/she will perform first; the judges may request the second selection. The rendition of subsequent selections will be at the discretion of the judges based on judging needs as well as the time limitations of the audition.
  • All repertoire, including selections from oratorios, must be memorized. No music should be used.  
  • All pieces must be performed in their original language, unless otherwise noted.
  • Singing for comments - we encourage students of all ages and levels who may not be interested in or ready for competition to sing for comments alone.
  • Students must provide their own accompanist or select to hire an official NATS Collaborative Pianist for the day of the audition. NATS Collaborative Pianists are available at the following rates: • $30 for auditions of 3 or less songs • $40 for auditions of 4 or more songs. Select the official NATS Collaborative Pianist when registering with AuditionWare. Fee includes a brief rehearsal on the day of the audition and the 8-15 minute audition. Additional rehearsals before the audition day may be requested pending pianist availability, at the rate of $25/half hour.
  • Students may enter classical, musical theatre and CCM divisions and must pay application fees for each division entered.
  • Teachers may not accompany their own students.  
  • Pianists may play for a maximum of 12 students.
  • Only original music or approved copies are allowed, in accordance with the NATS Copyright Policy.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGISTRATION
  • Online registration begins September 3rd. 
  • Registration closes October 7th 11:59pm.
  • To access the AuditionWare site, teachers must login to NATS.org, click on Member Home, and click the green button "NATS AUDITION REGISTRATION".

ENTRY FEES
  • All applicable fees will be collected online through AuditionWare.
  • Entry fees are non-refundable:
    • Children, Youth, Categories 1-4: $25
    • Adult, Categories 5 - 14: $30

TEACHER VOLUNTEERS
  •  All teachers who submit students to the Student Auditions are expected to adjudicate/ volunteer at the event. If a teacher is unable to attend and volunteer/judge, they must submit a $40 non-attendance fee.

SCHEDULING
  • All entrants will be notified about their audition times 10 days prior to the Auditions.
  • No changes in scheduling or repertoire will be permitted on the day of the Student Audition.
  • Check-In and Registration table will be open at 9:00 a.m. at Smith Recital Hall
  • Students and accompanists should arrive 20 minutes in advance of their assigned time. Practice rooms are extremely limited for rehearsal/warm-up, so please be sure to warm-up ahead of time.
  • These are “open auditions.” Students, relatives, friends and teachers are encouraged to attend. Please enter and leave only before and after each singer’s performance. Observance of concert etiquette is respectfully requested.

*ADJUDICATION, AWARDS & NOTIFICATION ADJUDICATION AND AWARDS
  • The Auditions Chair will fairly enforce the rules and regulations in order to fulfill the Mission of the Student Auditions. The Auditions Chair shall be the final authority regarding the rules and regulations.
  • Contestants will be assigned a number and their names will not be known to the judges.
  • We encourage students of all ages and levels who may not be interested in or ready for competition to sing for comments alone.
  • Awards will be given at the discretion of the judges. The awards are primarily intended to be recognition of the singers’ achievement. The judges reserve the right to award no winners if there are an insufficient number of entries in any given division.
  • After the performance is completed, if there is a suspected rules or guidelines violation, one Adjudicator will notify the Auditions Chair who will make a ruling on the matter. The decision of the Auditions Chair is final.
  • All singers will participate in the Preliminary Round, and the top three singers with a score above 90 from each category will be invited to sing in the Finals Concert, which will be held later that afternoon. The names of the finalists will be posted at the registration table 30 minutes after the preliminary round in each division is finished. Finalists will be invited to sing ONE song from their repertoire list in its entirety; this song should not exceed five minutes in length. In the case of a tie, attending NATS members in the audience will vote on the final decision.
  • Singers must be able to attend the Finals Concert in order to be eligible for an award. Honorable Mention and Encouragement Awards will also be presented at the Finals Concert.
  • Judges will provide written evaluations of each performer. These evaluations are quite useful to the student and teacher and will be sent to each performer after the completion of the Student Auditions.
  • Previous first place winners are ineligible to compete for placement in the same category, but may participate for judges’ comments.
  • If any division has less than five entries the division will be combined with its counter-category.

NOTIFICATIONS
Please direct any questions to Jennifer D'Onofrio, Student Auditions Chair:  jen5@donofriomusic.com 

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