The requirements for video recording, YouTube labeling and video types, and materials related to Commercial Music are very specific. Use these detailed documents to make sure you are choosing the right repertoire, recording videos properly, and labeling the information to prevent students from being ineligible to advance to the next rounds.

NATS STUDENT AUDITIONS RESOURCES

Please utilize these resources for your repertoire, auditions, and audition questions.

• NSA Categories, Requirements, and Resources
• NSA Categories of Entry
• Children & Youth Category Resources
• Musical Theatre NSA Category Resources
• Commercial Music NSA Category Resources

QUICK SUMMARY:

• The Texoma NATS Spring Auditions will be held online utilizing the AuditionWare system beginning March 4, 2025.
• The registration process for the auditions will open on Monday, January 26th.
• The registration deadline is Wednesday, February 18th at 4:00 pm central time.
• YouTube video links are due Wednesday, February 25th at 4:00 pm central time.
  • As a reminder, if you are submitting students to the auditions, you must be present and available to judge for any session over the entire adjudication period (March 4-22). 

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

• If you do not plan to register students for these auditions but would be interested in serving as a judge, please send Emily an e-mail by February 17.

AUDITIONS CALENDAR

(all times are Central Time)

Registration Period

• Monday, Jan 26 – Registration Opens in AuditionWare
  • Teachers can enter a maximum of 18 entries in the Spring NSA auditions. Entering a student in TWO categories will use TWO entries.
• Wednesday, Feb 18, 4:00 PM – Registration Closes in AuditionWare
  • All fees and repertoire must be submitted. No changes to repertoire will be accepted after February 18.
• Saturday, Feb 22, 6:00 PM – Judges Meeting on Zoom
• Wednesday, Feb 25, 4:00 PM – Video Links Must Be Uploaded to AuditionWare
• Saturday, Feb 28, 9:30 AM – Judges Meeting on Zoom

Judges Meetings

Teachers entering students must attend one of the Zoom sessions.

• Saturday, Feb 22, 6:00 PM – Judges Meeting on Zoom
• Saturday, Feb 28, 9:30 AM – Judges Meeting on Zoom

Adjudication Period and Announcements

• Wednesday, Mar 4, 12:00 PM – Preliminary Adjudication Begins Online
• Saturday, Mar 14, 4:00 PM – Preliminary Adjudication Ends
• Sunday, Mar 15, 12:00 PM – Semifinalist List Published
• Sunday, Mar 15, 12:00 PM – Semifinal Adjudication Begins Online
• Wednesday, Mar 18, 4:00 PM – Semifinal Adjudication Ends
• Thursday, Mar 19, 12:00 PM – Finalist List Published 
• Thursday, Mar 19, 12:00 PM – Final Adjudication Begins Online
• Sunday, Mar 22, 4:00 PM – Finals Adjudication Ends
• Tuesday, Mar 24, 12:00 PM – Winners List Published

ELIGIBILITY REMINDERS:

• Eligibility to Register:
  • To register students for the Student Auditions, you will need to be up to date on your NATS national dues.
    • Teachers can enter a MAXIMUM of 15 students in the Spring Auditions. An entry into one category is one student – a student entering two categories will count as 2 of the 15 student entries.
  • You will access the registration process through the NATS website at org. Login at the NATS website, click on Member Home, and then scroll down until you see the green box “NATS Audition Registration.” 
  • This will take you to the AuditionWare registration program.
  • Please be aware that it can take up to 24 hours for your dues to roll over into the registration website; this means, if you do not pay your dues until February 16th, you will not have access to the registration website to register your students in time. Your best bet to make the process as easy as possible is to go ahead and check now that your dues are up-to-date and that you can get into the registration system, regardless of when you plan to register. 

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION

• Student registration fee: $25.00 per category
• Registration for the auditions is accessed through AuditionWare. You access the site via www.nats.org > Member Home > AuditionWare. 
• In order to access AuditionWare and register students, you must:
  • Log in 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).
  • On the Member Home page, scroll down and select the green “NATS Auditions Registration”. This will open AuditionWare. (If you do not see this link, your dues are not up-to-date.). This will take you directly to AuditionWare and log you in automatically.
  • On the left panel of the AuditionWare landing page, confirm that the Region is listed as “Texoma”. 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 “Location” button.
  • Select the “2026 Texoma NATS Online NSA Auditions”
    • This won’t be available until registration opens on Monday, January 26th.
  • If your School or Studio is NOT listed in the drop-down menu, send Casey Carter an email to request the information is added to the menu [ccarter@collin.edu].

SPRING TEXOMA CATEGORIES

Full details about the age limits, repertoire requirements, and audition specifics can be found here.

• The top five finalists from most categories are eligible to enter the NSA National YouTube
• Starting in 2023, the student will enter the category of their age on September 1st of the audition cycle
• Your singer’s age as of September 1, 2024, is the age that AuditionWare will use to sort your singer into the appropriate category.

• Children and Youth Categories (MT1, MT2)

• High School Categories (MT3, MT4)

• Post High School Categories (MT5, MT6, MT7, MT8)

• Advanced Categories (MT9, MT10) – these categories do not advance to the NSA Auditions during the 2025/26auditions cycle.

• Adult Categories (MT11, MT12, MT 13, MT 14) – these categories do not advance to the NSA Auditions during the 2025/26auditions cycle.

Commercial Music Categories:

• Children and Youth Categories (CM1, CM2)

• High School Categories (CM3, CM4)

• Post High School Categories  (CM5, CM6, CM7, CM8)

• Advanced Categories (CM9, CM10)

• Adult Categories (CM11, CM12, CM13, CM14) – these categories do not advance to the NSA Auditions during the 2025/26auditions cycle.

Classical Categories:

• Children and Youth Categories (CL1, CL2)

• Information must be accurate and complete since it is also used in the submission process as students advance towards the National rounds.
• You can save and leave the audition form if you find you need to complete it later.
• Do NOT use the teacher’s email, mobile, nor address.
• Each entry must have a unique email and mobile identifier.
• Minor students? You MUST enter the parent/guardian email and mobile information.
• Do not enter the email and telephone information of a minor in the system

You may find it useful to have students fill out the Fillable Student Pre-Registration Form for Teachers.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Phone Number (unique for each student)*
• Minor Students: provide the phone number for a parent/guardian – we are not allowed to contact minor students
• Email (unique for each student)*
• Minor Students: provide a unique email for a parent/guardian – we will not contact minor student
• Complete Mailing Address
• Birth Date (month, day, year)
• Audition Category
• Pianist Name
• Pianist Email Address

COLLABORATIVE PIANIST AND ACCOMPANIMENT REQUIREMENTS

In Music Theatre and Classical Category Auditions:

• Perform with a live pianist whenever possible. If a live pianist is not available, you may perform your video audition with a piano-only accompaniment track.
• If your voice teacher is your accompanist, their face or identity should not be visible in the video.
• Pianists must play piano or a keyboard either from memory or from copyright-compliant scores.
• A page-turner other than a voice teacher may be visible on camera as needed.
• At live national-level NSA auditions, live collaborative pianists are required in these categories. Staff collaborative pianists are available to request when completing your online national NSA entry forms.

In Commercial Music Category Auditions:

• Mandatory: Perform with a microphone on camera amplifying vocals—using no additional effects/filters. The microphone used on camera may feed directly into the camera or an external amp/speaker.
• In either live auditions or video submissions, for each song entered you may choose to: 1. self-accompany from memory on an acoustic instrument, 2. perform with only one live acoustic instrumentalist (a keyboard is accepted as the only acoustic exception), or 3. perform with an instrumental pre-recorded track with no backing vocals. Remember: an acoustic guitar is accepted, but an electric guitar is not due to time and tech limitations.
• You may make the same or different accompaniment choices for each selection taking care to follow the NSA Commercial Music requirements for the category entered.
• If your voice teacher is your accompanist, their face must not be visible in the video.
• Accompanying instrumentalists may play by ear, from memory, from a score the singer composed, or from copyright- compliant: lyric sheets, lead sheets, sheet music, music in a published book, purchased transpositions, original music for original songs, or published music with markings to personalize your interpretation. Any photocopies must be accompanied by written permission of the copyright holder.
• A page-turner other than your voice teacher may be visible on camera as needed.

 

VIDEO SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please share the following PDF with your students and pianists to ensure compliance with the requirements: NATS Video Guidelines

• Please note that videos should duplicate the live audition experience.
  • It is not acceptable for students to be wearing costumes, using props and set pieces, nor to change clothing for each song in their packet.

RECORDING LOCATION

• You should record your video in the spirit of a live audition or recital performance. You may record in a home, school, church, synagogue, recital hall, rehearsal room, or voice studio with good natural acoustics with or without an audience. You should dress professionally, as you would for a recital or live audition.
• Alternately, you may excerpt an unedited video clip of your solo performance with a pianist of a song/aria from a recital performance performed on or after September 1st in the NSA cycle/academic year in which you are entering. Video excerpts from concerts, operas, revues, musicals, or operettas cannot be accepted.

RECORDING SPECIFICS

• All NSA video auditions must be performed on or after September 1st in the current NSA Cycle/academic year
• Record a separate, unedited video of each song/aria entered.
• Your camera must record your audition in LANDSCAPE (a horizontal camera-frame), from a fixed, audience- center position, as if adjudicators were seated in front of you.
• Face the camera as you would face adjudicators in a live audition.
• Your video must clearly show your face with your waist upward or more of your body in the camera’s frame as needed to keep your physical performance within the camera’s frame. Avoid empty space above head on video.

• It is not acceptable for students to be wearing costumes, using props and set pieces, nor to change clothing for each song in their packet.

• View a short video of best practices for recording video submissions.
• The student’s slate (see script at bottom of this page) may be recorded as part of the performance or recorded separately from the singing, then edited to the beginning of the unedited video of the song/aria performed.

AUDITION-PERFORMANCE

• MANDATORY: Slate/Introduce yourself and your selection at the beginning of each video. Introduce by stating only:
• I am (Your Name)
• I will perform (Title of Selection) or I have (Title of Selection)
• from (Title of Larger Work) OMIT THE TITLE OF THE LARGER WORK WHENEVER NOT APPLICABLE
• by (Composer’s Name)
• IF A MUSICAL THEATRE SELECTION has an additional lyricist, ADD THE FOLLOWING LINE and (Lyricist’s Name)
• WHEN A MUSICAL IS BY A KNOWN WRITING TEAM, THE LAST TWO LINES ABOVE MAY BE SAID IN ANY ORDER: Lerner & Loewe, Maltby & Shire, Ahrens & Flaherty, Lieber & Stoller, Barlow & Bear, and more are best known as lyricist & composer
• Perform each of your selections from memory in your video, unless otherwise stipulated in the NSA regulations.
• Participants in ALL NSA Categories (Classical, Musical Theatre, Spirituals, and/or Commercial Music) must perform full songs or arias. 16-bar, 32-bar, etc. audition cuts are not accepted.
• The identity, logo, or image of your teacher, school, location, or NATS chapter/district/region must not be spoken or revealed in your video in any way including posters, photographs, reflections in mirrors/glass/shiny surfaces, diplomas, flags, banners, video’s titling and description, etc.

YOUTUBE VIDEO SETTINGS

• Select “Unlisted” in the privacy settings found under the Broadcasting and Sharing Options, when uploading your video files to YouTube. No other settings are accepted in NSA.
• Each video’s title should be in the following format: NATS NSA – Singer’s Full Name
• All video titles must be the same at all levels of NSA. Video titles must not contain any reference to chapter, district, or region, school, teacher, etc.
• Type in the YouTube “Description” for each video:
• I DO NOT OWN THE COPYRIGHT TO THE MUSIC IN THIS STUDENT AUDITION
• “Title of Selection”
• Title of LARGER WORK whenever applicable
• Composer’s Name
• if a Musical Theatre selection, ADD: & Lyricist’s Name
• Turn OFF the video comments option on each video uploaded to YouTube.
• YouTube Channel Background, Banner, Titles, Logos, and Images must NOT reveal Teacher, School, Location, NATS Chapter/District/Region, Studio Names, or Affiliations of the Teacher or the Student auditioning.
• YouTube is the only video uploading platform accepted. (No video auditions uploaded to Vimeo, Flickr, Vevo, or personal websites, etc. will be accepted.) 

SUBMISSION – By teachers only

• In your online registration/entry, the teacher must provide a copy the complete web link/URL for each video matching the selection’s title. No extra blank space either before or after the web address, please.
• It is the responsibility of the teacher to verify that all information in the videos is correct from YouTube labeling to the compliance statements. Failure to follow instructions will result in the student being ineligible to advance to future rounds.
• Check your video submission’s link to be sure the video and music are in sync, the volume of the singing is adequate to be adjudicated, and the performance is of a complete selection. The silences before and after your performance may be trimmed.
• Double-check to be certain the video performance matches the selection’s title on YouTube and on your entry’s registration. Video performances not matching titles will result in the singer being ineligible to advance.
• Upload 2, 3, 4, or 5 separate videos matching the number of selections required in your Category of Entry.

INVALID VIDEOS

The following issues make a video submission unacceptable and result in the singer being ineligible to advance. If possible, comments will be provided for singers that are disqualified from the auditions.

• Videos uploaded as “private” or “removed by user” obviously cannot be adjudicated
• Videos revealing teacher’s identity, image, school, location, voice/music studio; student’s school, location; or NATS: chapter, district, or region—in the video submitted OR on the YouTube channel used for uploading videos submitted
• Videos that pan and/or zoom during performances
• Videos using recording equipment that alters the acoustics of the venue or the sound quality of the singer by adding distractingly unrealistic reverb, altering the pitches sung, digitally altering or filtering the vocals either during or after the video is filmed
• Videos of repertoire not entered in your region’s category in which you placed to qualify for national preliminaries
• CM Video Submissions, on which the singer is not performing with a microphone visible on camera to amplify their vocals
• CM Video Submissions with backing vocals on the accompaniment track
• CM Video Submissions with electric instruments other than one keyboard, or with more than one acoustic instrument providing the live accompaniment, i.e. any handheld percussion instruments like shakers count as one accompanying instrument
• CL, HJ, or MT Video Submissions with more than a piano or electric keyboard playing on the accompaniment track
• Videos that are incomplete—full songs are required
• Videos in which the singer appears to be looking at anything written to aid memorization
• Videos recorded/filmed before September 1st in the academic year of the video’s submission
• Any video audition conducted or side-coached by another person (positioned on or off camera) during the video’s recording
• YouTube submissions monetized on YouTube; ads will delay adjudication and may result in YouTube’s blocking or removing the video submitted

If you should need further assistance regarding the upcoming conference or auditions, the following points of contact will come in useful.  For questions regarding… 

• Student Auditions: Casey L. Carter [ccarter@collin.edu] –Auditions Chair 
• Audition Repertoire: Emily Howes Heilman – [emily.c.howes@gmail.com] Assistant Auditions Chair
• Registration/Payment: Greg Brookes [brookes@ttu.edu] – Treasurer/Registrar