HIGH SCHOOL | MUSIKVEREIN

Application Details

Ready to apply? Follow the steps outlined below to submit your application materials.

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How to Apply

The honor of participation in the Honors Ensembles is offered to talented high school students identified an international pool of applicants. To be considered, you must be in US grades 9-12 (or equivalent international study level) during the 2021-2022 school year and submit a complete electronic application, in which all required information—as well as all supplemental files (audition recording, etc.)—are submitted online.

How and When to Submit Your Materials

Please submit all application materials as soon as possible in order to ensure a timely review of your application. Each application component must be submitted individually using the links in the appropriate section below.

Our 2022 application is currently closed. Please email honors@honorsperformance.org to receive information about Rolling Admissions, by which performers can apply to join the Series waitlist, if available.

Required Application Materials

All applications must complete the following 4 steps.

Online Enrollment
Teacher Reference Form
Performing Biography
Audition Recording

All required components must be received on or before the application deadline for an application to be considered by our Selection Board.

Step 1: Complete Online Enrollment

If you received a Student ID with your invitation materials, please include it when you start the enrollment process.

In order to give appropriate attention to all applications, our Selection Board prefers to receive materials sooner than later; applicants must electronically upload all required application materials to our website by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 29, 2021, to be eligible for the 2022 Series.

If you are not selected as a Finalist, all but a $15 application review fee will be refunded—the application deposit is non-refundable for participants who withdraw after the final application deadline. Please note that the total program cost does not change based on the time a student’s application is received.

Once you have completed the online application form, you will receive an automated email that includes your Customer Account Number. This will be different than your Invitation Number and should be used as you submit your remaining application materials so we can properly link these submissions to your application.

Step 2: Provide a Teacher Reference

All applicants are asked to provide the contact information for a music teacher who can answer questions about your application. While most questions can and will be directed toward the applicant directly, certain questions (such as verifying information in your application portfolio) may be asked of your teacher reference.

If you've already received a nomination, please confirm the contact information for the teacher who nominated you. Otherwise, your teacher reference can be any music professional—a schoolteacher, private instructor, etc.—who is familiar with your abilities.

Step 3: Complete the Performing Biography Form

Provide more information about yourself and your musical background by completing the brief Performing Biography Form in your student portal. An overview of the questions asked is included below to assist as you get ready to apply:

Do you take private lessons? If so, for how long and with whom?
Voice part(s) and/or instrument(s) you sing/play proficiently
Please list any SELECTIVE performance groups of which you are/have been a member (and when).
Please list any other performance groups of which you are/have been a member (and when).
Please list any honors/awards/recognitions (musically or otherwise) you've received that you feel are relevant to your selection for the Series.
Please list significant solo or ensemble pieces you've performed or learned.
Why would you like to be a part of the Honors Performance Series? Please respond in 250 words or less.

At the end of the Performing Biography, applicants are also given the opportunity to provide any additional information they feel is relevant to their application.

Step 4: Submit an Audio Recording

Each student must submit an audition recording by uploading a digital file with their application. Please review the below audition recording requirements in their entirety before recording your submission.

Recordings must meet the following criteria:

Recordings may consist of one or multiple pieces and should total between three and five minutes for each instrument/voice part for which you are auditioning (except percussionists – see below). Recordings will not be disqualified if they are slightly over or under this guideline.
As the audition upload form accepts up to three recordings per part on which you are applying, different pieces may be submitted as separate recordings.
Begin each piece by introducing yourself, tell us the instrument/voice part for which you are auditioning, and the piece that you'll be playing—for example: “My name is John Smith, and the following is the suggested audition etude for snare drum.”
Recordings should be audio-only (no videos, please) and submitted in MP3 or M4A format only. Please note: We'll do our best to notify students if we encounter a problem with an audition recording, but we cannot guarantee the Selection Board will be able to review your submission if it's not submitted in the required format.
When naming the file, please include your first and last name as well as the instrument or voice part for which you're auditioning.
Recordings may not be engineered or enhanced in any manner.
You may audition on more than one instrument and you may audition as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist. In both cases, you should complete Online Enrollment once, submitting only one teacher reference and one performing biography. You'll need to submit a separate recording for each instrument/voice part on which you wish to apply.
All applicants are encouraged to prepare one of the sample etudes listed below. See below for information about the selection of additional audition pieces.

Please note: The audition upload form can be submitted only once per applicant. If you are applying on more than one part, please submit the form only when you are ready to upload your audition recordings for all parts.

Vocalists:

Vocalists should prepare a piece from Schirmer’s Library of Musical Classics, Twenty-Four Italian Songs & Arias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
If desired, vocalists may select and record an additional classical piece which they feel best demonstrates their abilities.
Your recording must be a solo performance, though piano accompaniment is encouraged.

Instrumentalists:

If you wish to audition on an instrument not listed below, please select a technical piece (or pieces) that you feel best demonstrate(s) your musical abilities. Classical pieces are preferred but not required.
All performances must be solo, without accompaniment.

Instrumentalist should prepare one of the following sample etudes, and if desired, may play an additional technical piece of their choosing.

Clarinet – Bass
Clarinet – Bb
Bassoon
Cello
English Horn
French Horn
Euphonium

Flute & Piccolo
Oboe
Percussion – See Below
Saxophone – Alto
Saxophone – Bari
Saxophone – Tenor

String Bass
Trombone
Trumpet
Tuba
Viola
Violin

Percussionists should include solos of the below etudes for snare, timpani, and marimba. You may also select an additional solo, if desired, that demonstrates your technical abilities on one of these or another percussion instrument. Please clearly identify each piece and instrument in your recording. Your total recording time for all audition recordings should be approximately 3-5 minutes. Please label your recordings clearly as to which instrument is featured in each.

Snare: Portraits in Rhythm by Antony Cirone, Etude No. 6 – page 8
Timpani: The Solo Timpanist by Vic Firth, Etude No. 18 (XVIII) – page 33
Marimba: Masterpieces for Marimba arr. by Thomas McMillan, Sonata in E MAJOR by Handel – page 22 (play to the end of measure 24; no repeats)

Submit Your Audition Recording

Evaluation Process and Selection of Finalists

Once you submit your application:

Applicants will receive an official confirmation email approximately two to three weeks following the Series‘ receipt of your materials. The Series will use the email address(es) you provide on your application to send official program communications.
Once a completed application is received, it will be reviewed by our Board of professional musicians to select Finalists for the Honors Ensembles. The 2022 High School Honors Performance Series is planned to feature a mixed choir, a concert band, and an orchestra (format TBD). The Selection Board considers applicants equally for all relevant ensembles.
Performers selected for the program to perform as part of the Honors Ensembles are designated as Finalists and will be notified by email by approximately November 23, 2021. Accepted Finalists are assigned to an ensemble based upon the recommendations of our Selection Board to satisfy balance requirements for each ensemble, as well as to maintain an equally high level of musicality for all ensembles. Please note: Your program dates may vary based on your selected ensemble. The Series cannot guarantee that, if accepted, an applicant will be placed into a specific ensemble.
Applicants who are not accepted will also be emailed on November 23 and will be notified of their status: Runner-up (waitlisted) or Deferred (not waitlisted and not accepted).
All applicant notifications will be sent via email to all email address(es) listed on your account.
Accepted Finalists should expect to receive their sheet music and Conductor’s rehearsal notes in Spring 2022.
After acceptance, should any Finalist cancel their participation, a First Runner-up will be offered the opportunity to fill the open seat.