FAQ’s:

QUICK SUMMARY:

• The DFW Chapter Spring Auditions will be held at Collin College’s Wylie Campus on Friday, March 7^th (Commercial Music and Music Theatre), and Saturday, March 8^th (Classical and Performer of the Year).
• The registration process for the auditions will open on Friday, February 7.
• The registration deadline is Tuesday, 24 February at 5:00 PM.

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 Casey an e-mail by February 24th (ccarter@collin.edu).

When are the AUDITIONS (all times are Central Time)?

• Registration Period
  • Friday, 7 February - Registration Opens - AuditionWare
  • Sunday, 9 February, 3:00 PM - Informational Meeting, Zoom. Request the link here.
  • Tuesday, 25 February , 5:00 PM - Registration Closes - All fees, Minor Chaperone Forms, and Complete Repertoire due
  • Tuesday, 3 March - Schedule Published to AuditionWare
• Adjudication Period and Announcements
  • Music Theatre and Commercial Music
    • Friday, March 7
    • 1:30 PM - Judges Meeting
    • 2:30 PM - Preliminary Rounds
    • 6:30 PM - Finals Announcements
    • 7:00 PM - Finals
  • Classical and Glidden Singer of the Year
    • Saturday, March 8
    • 8:00 AM - Judges Meeting
    • 9:00 AM - Prelims Begin
    • 12:30 PM - DFW Membership Meeting (Lunch ordered in AuditionWare)
    • 1:30 PM – Masterclass with Tenor David Portillo
    • 2:30 PM - Finals Announcements
    • 2:45 PM - Finals Begin

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 AND have paid your DFW Chapter Dues..
  • You will access the registration process through the NATS website at nats.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 21^st, you will not have access to the registration website to 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.

NATS STUDENT AUDITIONS RESOURCES - Please utilize these resources for your repertoire, audition, and audition questions.

• NATS NSA Resource Center
• NATS NSA – Frequently Asked Questions
• Children & Youth Category Resources
• Commercial Music NSA Category Resources
• Musical Theatre NSA Category Resources
• Texoma Region Repertoire Database – a great place to discover new repertoire but this is not a complete listing.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION

• Teacher registration fee: $25.00
• Student registration fee: $25.00 per category (students can enter in all three divisions)
  • Teachers can enter a maximum of TEN singers on Friday, and TEN singers on Saturday.
• Registration for the auditions is accessed through AuditionWare, the new registration website. You must access Audition Ware 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. (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 “DFW Chapter.” You can switch back and forth from your Region to the DFW Chapter using the “Location” button.
  • Select the “Dallas Ft. Worth – Spring 2025 DFW NATS” box. This won’t be available until registration opens on Friday, February 7^th.
  • 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.

Before you begin to register students, you will need the information in the Fillable Student Pre-Registration Form for Teachers for each student.

• 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 will not contact minor students.
• Email (unique for each student)*
• Minor Students: provide a unique email for a parent/guardian – we will not contact minor students.
• Complete Mailing Address
• Birth Date (month, day, year)
• Audition Category
• Pianist Name
• Pianist Email Address

ENTERING MINOR STUDENTS?

• You CANNOT enter the email or mobile number of a minor student in the system. You must provide the email and mobile information for the parent or guardian of the student. No exception.
• As of the 2023/2024 NATS NSA Season, all minor students require a chaperone and signed permission form to perform and attend a NATS event. It is essential that you only provide email addresses and telephone numbers of the parent/guardian when registering minor students.
• Teachers will need to collect a complete, signed NATS Permission of a Minor in Live Events documentation and submit to Casey Carter in one email for your studio no later than Tuesday, February 25^th,

COLLABORATIVE PIANIST AND ACCOMPANIMENT REQUIREMENTS

In Musical Theatre and Classical Category Auditions:

• A live pianist must accompany the singer. The collaborative pianist cannot be the teacher of the student.

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.

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 
• DFW Chapter Questions: Corey Trahan corey.trahan@tcu.edu – DFW Chapter President
• Performer of the Year and Master Class Questions: Brock Johnson brock.g.johnson@gmail.com– DFW Chapter Vice-President/President Elect