2026 General Information

2026 Minnesota NATS Student Auditions

General Information

NOE: Registration has been extended to Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 11:59pm to accommodate members who did not receive the first round of emails at the beginning of September.

Dates & Location:

November 6-7, 2026

Bemidji State University

Auditions Co-Chairs: Kelly Burns and Holly Janz

Site Hosts: Cory Renbarger

Registration Details:

Registration Opens: Monday, September 7, 2026

Registration Closes: EXTENDED TO: Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 11:50pm (No late submissions allowed)

We are using AuditionWare this audition cycle, which is the same platform we used last year.

Audition Rules & Handbook:

The Minnesota NATS Board of Directors (Officers) has updated the Minnesota NATS Handbook for our auditions, which contains the most basic information regarding our weekend's general schedule of events, category names and numbers, repertoire requirements, time limits, age limits, audition terminology, copyright info, rules/guidelines for pianists, etc. Your Auditions Co-Chairs, Holly and Kelly, are here to help you through this process, too, so don't be afraid to reach out to them at minnesotanats@gmail.com with questions.

Pianists:

Full guidelines/details regarding pianists are included in the Handbook. Some quick items to note are:

Pianists may only play for up to 10 registrations for the entire audition weekend. Students who register in multiple categories count twice.
Pianists may play from an iPad or other tablet.
You must enter your pianists' names at the time of registration; please do not input "TBA," "TBD," "Digital Accompaniment," or anything else that signifies that you do not have a pianist lined up for your students. Registrations that are sent through with these answers in the pianist fields will not be accepted/cleared for the auditions as they hold up the ability for the Auditions Chairs to create the audition schedule which affects everyone, so thank you in advance for your attention here.
There are NO STAFF ACCOMPANISTS for these auditions. The Auditions Chairs do not have a list of pianists who are available.

Categories Offered:

We will offer the normal slate of Classical and Musical Theatre categories at the Youth, High School, and Post-High School/Undergraduate University levels. We also have Advanced (formerly "graduate") and Adult (formerly "avocational") classical categories.

Repertoire requirements are covered fully in the attached Handbook.
NOTE: 14-year-old students who are in 8th grade must be registered in the Youth categories; 14-year-olds who are in the 9th grade must be registered in the High School categories.

Registration Fees Per Student:

$30 for the first category registered
$20 for an additional category

Registration Information Needed:

For each participant you register, you will need the following information:

First Name
Last Name
Date of Birth
Phone Number
Email Address
Voice Type
Level of Study
Previous Teacher (within 8 months) and/or Team Teacher, if applicable
Category Selection(s)
Pianist's Name, Phone Number, and Email Address. Note: Pianists who played in 2025 should automatically be populated into the drop-down selection menu. New pianists will need to be added manually.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO LIST REPERTOIRE SELECTIONS at the time of online registration; repertoire titles will be provided on adjudication forms at the time of the audition. Members are responsible for making sure their students meet the repertoire requirements of the categories for which they register. Make sure you read the information carefully in the Handbook so that your student is not disqualified for a repertoire oversight. We are happy to screen/verify any repertoire choices via email before the auditions begin. Repertoire requirements are in our Handbook, attached.

How To Register Your Students:

Go to www.nats.org (or click on the button below) and login to your member account. Click on your email address in the top right corner of the page to get to your Members Home page. Scroll down and click on the green button labeled AuditionWare. Once AuditionWare loads, click on the blue button to register for the 2026 Minnesota Auditions and follow the instructions on your screen.

Please let us know if you need any other information. You can reach Holly and Kelly at minnesotanats@gmail.com.

NATS.ORG