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Message from the Auditions Chair

Dear Texoma NATS,

Happy New Year!!

Registration for the NATS National Student Auditions: Texoma Region – online Musical Theatre auditions will open Wednesday, January 18.  As a reminder, the top five finalists in each category are eligible to enter the NSA National YouTube Round which leads to the live semifinals and finals this summer in San Diego, CA!  

Please carefully review the following calendar, eligibility and registration requirements, and the highlighted changes for these auditions.


[NOTE: If you do not plan to register students for these auditions but would be interested in serving as a judge, please send me an e-mail (Daniel.HunterHolly@utrgv.edu).]


CALENDAR

  • Wednesday, January 18: registration opens
  • Wednesday, February 15, 6:00 pm: registration closes (all student information, repertoire, and payment for registration must be completed by this date)
  • Wednesday, February 22, 6:00 pm: video submission deadline
  • Wednesday, March 1: Preliminary Round judging begins
  • Friday, March 10, 9:00 pm: Preliminary Round scores and comments are due
  • March 11-19: additional rounds as needed
  • Results will be announced by March 20

 
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS (see the National Student Auditions Regulations for full details)

  • Teachers registering students for auditions must be members in good standing at the national level of NATS at the time of registration as well as all rounds of the event.
  • The region of a NATS member is determined by the physical address in their NATS membership file. Typically, NATS members may only belong to the region of their membership-address. They may only enter their students in that one region’s auditions in accordance with the audition procedures of that region. Exceptions to this regulation may be made with the approval of the Vice President for Auditions, the NATS Competitions and Auditions Coordinator, or the National Student Auditions Coordinator.
  • Members may enter only those students currently studying with them in the audition and may not enter students of other members.
  • If a student has been studying with a sponsoring teacher fewer than eight months, acknowledgment must be made of the former teacher both on the application and in any public announcements. Members will disclose at NATS events the name of a student’s previous voice teacher if the student has studied with the current teacher fewer than eight months.


NATS NSA – MUSICAL THEATRE CATEGORIES*
Full details about the category and repertoire requirements can be found here: https://www.nats.org/_Library/NSA_Files/NSA_Musical_Theatre_Categories_September_5_2021.pdf

  • MT 3A – Lower High School Musical Theatre Treble Voice (14-16 years old, 9th or 10th grade)
  • MT 4A – Lower High School Musical Theatre TBB Voice (14-16 years old, 9th or 10th grade)
  • MT 3B – Upper High School Musical Theatre Treble Voice (16-19 years old, 11th or 12th grade)
  • MT 4B – Upper High School Musical Theatre TBB Voice (16-19 years old, 11th or 12th grade)
  • MT 5 – Lower Musical Theatre Treble Voice (Age limit: 22 years old, 0-2 years of study post-high school)
  • MT 6 – Lower Musical Theatre TBB Voice (Age limit: 22 years old, 0-2 years of study post-high school)
  • MT 7 – Upper Musical Theatre Treble Voice (Age limit: 25 years old, 3-5 years of study post-high school, all as an undergraduate)
  • MT 8 – Upper Musical Theatre TBB Voice (Age limit: 25 years old, 3-5 years of study post-high school, all as an undergraduate)

*These are the MT categories that are eligible to advance to the next round of the NSA.  


REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION

  • Student registration fee: $25.00
  • Registration for the auditions is accessed through AuditionWare, using the same process as previous auditions.  You must access AuditionWare through the NATS website.  In order to access AuditionWare and register students, you must:
  • Login to https://nats.org.  The login information for this website is unique to you and administered by the National NATS Office.
  • Once you are logged in, navigate to the “Member Home” page (the link is accessed through the “Menu” link, in the upper right corner of the website). [https://nats.org/cgi/page.cgi/members_home.html]
  • On the Member Home page, scroll down and select the green “NATS Auditions Registration” box.  This will open AuditionWare.
  • Near the top of the AuditionWare home page, confirm that the Region is listed as “Texoma Region.”  Depending on your NATS Chapter, you may also be working on registration for Chapter Auditions.  You can switch back and forth from your Chapter to the Texoma Region using the “Change” button.
  • Select the green “2023 Texoma NATS MT Auditions” box.  This won’t be available until registration opens on Wednesday, January 18.
  • As you register each student, you must select your institution or “(Name) Private Studio” from the dropdown menu.  If your institution and/or private studio is not listed you must email Daniel.HunterHolly@utrgv.edu to have it added to the dropdown menu.

 
HIGHLIGHTED CHANGES

  • The registration fee has been increased to $25 in order to support monetary prizes for all categories.
  • Starting last year, the High School MT categories were split into Lower and Upper divisions for the NSA, and therefore, within Texoma Region.  Determining the placement for High School students depends on the age and grade level of the student, not the years of study.
  • NATS is continuing to allow recorded accompaniments (including programs like Appcompanist); additionally, teachers are allowed to accompany students in their videos so long as the teacher is not visible in the video.
  • Published transpositions are permitted.

 
NATS MUSICAL THEATRE RESOURCES

I will be sending out additional information about video policies in the next couple of weeks; in the meantime, please keep the following requirements in mind:

  • Students may sing with a live pianist, their teacher, or recorded accompaniment in their video entries.
  • If the teacher is the accompanist, they should not be in view in the video.
  • Accompanists must play from authorized copies that are compliant with the NATS Copyright Policy.
  • NATS will allow students to record audition videos using pre-recorded tracks such as found on Appcompanist, Hal Leonard’s Virtual Library, or other similar sources that offer piano-only accompaniments.  YouTube Karaoke Tracks are also acceptable, as long as they are piano only.  It will be acceptable to use tracks that are recorded by your teacher or your pianist (who know you and your interpretation).  Orchestrated tracks or tracks with other instruments or voices will NOT be acceptable and will result in disqualification.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions about these auditions!  


Very best wishes,
Dan