MIDDLE SCHOOL | Carnegie Hall

Application Details

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

How to Apply

The privilege of participation in the Honors Junior Ensembles is offered to talented middle school students identified from an international pool of applicants. To be considered, you must be in U.S. grades 6-8 (or equivalent international study level) during the 2024-2025 school year. All application materials must be submitted electronically following the instructions below.

IMPORTANT DATES

Final Application Deadline: February 5, 2025

*Will receive decision email by End of February, 2025

Required Application Materials

All applicants must complete the following steps.

Online Enrollment
Teacher Reference Form
Performing Biography
Audition Recording

All required components must be received on or before the application deadline (see below) 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.

Once you've completed the online enrollment form and submitted your application deposit, you'll gain access to your student portal, where you can submit your Teacher Reference, Performing Biography, and Audition Recording(s).

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 my.honorsperformance.org no later than Wednesday November, 20 for early decision and Wednesday, February, 5 to be eligible for regular decisions for the 2025 Series.

Please note: If you aren't selected as a Junior Finalist, all but the $29 deposit fee will be refunded. If you start the application process but don't submit the required materials by the deadline, or if you withdraw for any reason, your deposit will not be refunded.

Access Online Enrollment

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 school teacher, private instructor, etc.—who is familiar with your abilities.

Step 3: Complete the Performing Biography Form

Provide more information about yourself and your musical experience by completing the brief Performing Biography Form in your student portal. Below is an overview of the questions to help you prepare:

Do you take private lessons? If so, for how long and with whom?
Voice part(s) and/or instrument(s) you sing/play proficiently

If you are accepted as a finalist to participate in the Honors Performance Series, you may be asked to provide additional details about your musical background.

Step 4: Submit Your Audio Recording(s)

Each student must submit an audition recording by uploading a digital file with their application. Please review the following requirements before completing and submitting your recording.

Recordings may consist of one or multiple pieces and should total between one to two 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, I am a Tenor, and I will be singing America the Beautiful”.
Recordings should be audio only (no videos) and should be 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 is 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.

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:

As the majority of the repertoire will be classical in nature, a classical accompanied solo or etude is preferred (work with your teacher to help choose the best piece to submit).
Please ensure you are careful to start your piece on an appropriate pitch indicative of the range/part you wish to audition for.
Live accompaniment is preferred but a recorded accompaniment or backtrack will be accepted. Track should not include background vocals.
Example of Audition Materials:
- America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)
- America the Beautiful

Instrumentalists:

As the majority of the repertoire will be classical in nature, a classical solo performance or etude is preferred (work with your teacher to help choose the best piece to submit).
All auditions must be solo, without accompaniment or ensembles.
Please clearly state the instrument you'll be playing in your verbal introduction of each piece.
Percussionists should include solos on three instruments of your choice. Suggested percussion instruments include (but are not limited to) snare drum, timpani, and marimba. We encourage you to prepare selections that showcase your ability to perform melodies with dynamics and produce good tones.

Previously Programmed Repertoire:

Honors Junior Choir

Nda Wana – Traditional Venda, arr. Michael Barrett
Tshotsholoza – Traditional South African, arr. Jeffery Ames
Hine Ma Tov – Traditional Hebrew, arr. Neil Ginsberg
Afro-Celtic Diddle – Michael Coolen
Down by the Riverside – Traditional Spiritual, arr. Robert T. Gibson

Honors Junior Orchestra

Variations on a Well-Known Sea Chanty – Richard Stephan
Variations on the Famous Paganini 24th Caprice - Niccolò Paganini, arr. Harry Alshin
Eat My (Rosin) Dust – Brian Balmages
Ear-igami – Richard Meyer

  Honors Junior Band

Rippling Watercolors – Brian Balmages
Clouds That Sail In Heaven – Todd Salter
Skyward – Katahj Copely
Boundless River – Frank Ticheli
Joy – Frank Ticheli

Evaluation Process and Selection of Junior Finalists

Once you submit your application:

Applicants will receive an official confirmation email within approximately two weeks of the Series‘ receipt of your materials.
The Series will use the email address you provide in Online Enrollment to send a number of official program communications. To ensure you receive these messages, please add honors@honorsperformance.org and honors@email.honorsperformance.org to your list of approved senders with your email provider.
Once a completed application is received, it will be reviewed by our Board of professional musicians to select Junior Finalists for the Honors Junior Ensembles.
Performers selected for the program to perform as part of the Honors Junior Ensembles are designated as Junior Finalists and will be notified by email in December if they applied for early acceptance and in late-February, 2025 for final decisions.
Accepted Junior 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. The Series cannot guarantee that, if accepted, an applicant will be placed into a specific ensemble.
Applicants who are not accepted will also be notified by email in late-February, 2025 and will be informed of their status: Runner-up (waitlisted) or Deferred (not waitlisted and not accepted).
Junior Finalist and First Runner-up notifications will be emailed to the address provided in Online Enrollment.
Accepted Junior Finalists should expect to receive their sheet music and Conductor’s rehearsal notes no later than the end of April 2025.
After acceptance, should any Junior Finalist cancel their participation, a First Runner-up will be offered the opportunity to fill the open seat.

“My favorite part of the program was really being around a lot of talented people who share the same values with you. I loved forming bonds and making friends the most!”

Casey
Junior Finalist

1359 Broadway, Suite 1504,
New York, NY 10018

+1 (800) 503-0807
honors@honorsperformance.org

The Honors Performance Series is proudly presented and operated by WorldStrides.

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