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Competition Status

Competitions are now CLOSED. Thank you for registering!

 

IMPORTANT: Competition fees will be non-refundable starting on March 1st. If you need to drop out of any competitions, please let us know before that date.

 

US Army Field Band Prescreen

Click to sign up for the US Army Field Band Prescreen.

QR code to the prelims sign up page for the Army Field Band audition.

A flyer for the US Army Field Band Vacancy. Now hiring: horn. Recorded prelim deadline March 14. Live prescreen March 24 at Mid-South Horn Workshop. Live finals May 21 in Washington DC.

 

COLLEGE CORNO

The NU CORNO Ensemble is excited to partner with the 2024 Mid-South Horn Workshop hosted by Lanette López Compton and the OSU Horn Studio in presenting COLLEGE CORNO! COLLEGE CORNO is an immersive experience that takes place over the three days of the 2024 MSHW, providing a select group of 16 students the opportunity to experience the professional environment which NU CORNO fosters annually at the International Horn Symposium through rehearsal and performance. This is a unique opportunity for students to get performance experience with their peers while premiering new works for horn ensemble written especially for this experience and the 2024 MSHW.  
 
COLLEGE CORNO ensemble is set! Thank you to all who submitted recommendations. It was an incredibly challenging selection process with such a deep pool of talented students. We are excited for the program that is selected and look foward to this inaugural event! Selected students must be registered for and present for all three days of the 2024 MSHW from 3/22/2024 to 3/24/2024. Should anyone require additional information, please direct all inquiries to Steven Cohen, NU CORNO Founder & Artistic Director. 

 

Categories

The following competitions will be held: 

Solo Competition: High school, Undergraduate, and Graduate 

Mock Orchestral Competition: High Horn and Low Horn 

Horn Quartet Competition 

 

Registration

In addition to workshop registration fees, each competition will be $10 for each individual. The fee for the quartet competition will be $10 for each member ($40 total). 


Rules 

  • Competitors must not have performed professionally under a full-time contract or have been previously offered such employment by virtue of winning a full-time professional audition. 

  • Solo works must be performed from legally acquired music. Please bring original copies with you.

  • Performers may stand or sit to perform. Students are not required to perform from memory. 

  • The judges reserve the right to not choose a winner, should the quality of performances merit. The winners of each competition will be recognized and can perform at the final concert on Sunday, March 24. 

  • The first rounds are closed to the public, but subsequent rounds may be open for public viewing. 

  • Only the mock orchestral competition will be behind a screen. Stage presence will be considered for the solo and quartet competitions. 

 
High School Solo Competition 

 

Eligibility

Students entering this competition must be enrolled in high school (grades 9–12) or in a home-schooling program and younger than 19 years old on March 22, 2024. 

 

Rules

  • Students must perform from legally acquired music. 

  • Parents or guardians may sit in the room during their student’s performance but may not stay for the performances of other students. 

  • The general public will not be invited to observe this competition. 

  • The winner of this competition may be invited to play in a masterclass. 

  • If the judges deem it necessary, there will be a second round using the piece listed in the repertoire below. 

*NEW* Prize Opportunity 

  • 1st prize - $10,000 merit scholarship to attend the Interlochen Arts Academy
  • 2nd prize - $7,500 merit scholarship to attend the Interlochen Arts Academy 
     
    Students currently in grades 8-11 (including home-schooled students) are eligible to win this award. Students outside this age range may still win the competition but are not eligible to receive the scholarship award. This merit scholarship offer is valid only for enrollment in Fall 2024 at Interlochen Arts Academy and is non-transferable and non-deferrable. 
    Winners will still need to complete an application to be accepted into the Academy; more information can be found here: https://www.interlochen.org/academy-boarding-school/admission/how-to-apply. Should the horn studio be full at the time of acceptance, qualified students will be placed on a waitlist. 
    Upon completion of the Academy application, students will be considered for financial aid in addition to their merit scholarship. Any financial aid award is in addition to the merit scholarship amount and is based on parental income and financial need. 
    This prize is a minimum award. Based on audition videos, exceptional applicants may be offered additional scholarship. However, merit scholarships are not "stackable." For example, if you have already applied for Fall 2024 and received a merit scholarship, the higher of the two scholarships is the final merit scholarship offer. 
    Please contact Dr. Lauren Hunt at lauren.hunt@interlochen.org with any questions.
     

Repertoire 

First Round (choose one)

Lev Kogan, Kaddish

Purchase

Otto Ketting, Intrada

Purchase

 

Second Round (if needed)

Richard Strauss, Concerto No. 1, Op. 11, Movement 3

Purchase

 

Undergraduate Solo Competition 

 

Eligibility

Students entering this competition must be enrolled at a college or university as an undergraduate student and must not currently hold a teaching position at a college or university. 

 

Rules 

  • The preliminary round will be performed unaccompanied. 

  • For the final round, pianist is required. A MSHW pianist will be provided. 

  • Students must perform from legally acquired music. 

  • The winner of this competition may be invited to play in a masterclass. 

  • Choose one work for the preliminary round from the list below.  

  • There is only one option for the final round. 

 
Repertoire 

First Round (choose one)

Randall Faust, Call and Response

Purchase

James Naigus, Primary Ignition

Purchase

 

Second Round

Reinhold Glière, Concerto in Bb, Movement 3 

Purchase

 

Graduate Solo Competition 

 

Eligibility

Students entering this competition must be enrolled at a college or university as a graduate student and must not currently hold a teaching position at a college or university (graduate assistantships excepted). 

 

Rules

  • The preliminary round will be performed unaccompanied. 

  • For the final round, pianist is required. A MSHW pianist will be provided. 

  • Students must perform from legally acquired music. 

  • The winner of this competition may be invited to play in a masterclass. 

  • Choose one work for the preliminary round from the list below.  

  • There is only one option for the final round. 

 
Repertoire

First Round (choose one)

Lydia Busler, Appalachia

Purchase

Chris Castellanos, Rejuvenation

Purchase

 

Second Round

Gordon Jacob, Concerto, Movement 3

Purchase

 

Mock Orchestral Competitions 

 

Eligibility

Students entering this competition must satisfy the requirements for either the high school or college solo competitions 

 

Rules 

  • Music can be found  here. 

  • Students must provide their own music. 

  • Performers will be separated from the judges by a screen. 

  • Each entrant should prepare all excerpts from the high horn or low horn audition list. 

  • The winners of this competition may be invited to play in a masterclass. 

 

High Horn Repertoire 

Excerpt number listed in parenthesis references Orchestral Horn Excerpts compiled by Daren Robbins.

  • R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, beginning to rehearsal 5, horn 1 (Excerpt 1)
  • R. Wagner: Götterdämmerung (short call), horn 1 
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, movement 1, mm. 84 through 102, horn 1 in A (Excerpt 1)
  • Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte, beginning to 4 after A, horn 1 in G  
  • Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, IV: 17 m. after rehearsal 10 to downbeat of rehearsal 11, horn 1 in E (Excerpt 5)
  • Brahms: 3rd Symphony III: mm. 98-110, horn 1 in C (Excerpt 2)
  • Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel: m. 6 to rehearsal 1, horn 1 (Excerpt 1)

 

Low Horn Repertoire

Excerpt number listed in parenthesis references Orchestral Horn Excerpts compiled by Daren Robbins.

  • Mahler: Symphony No. 1, III: bar 3 of rehearsal 13 to rehearsal 15, horn 2 (Excerpt 5)
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, III: mm. 82-100, horn 4 in Eb (Excerpt 3)
  • Beethoven: Overture to Fidelio, mm. 45-55, horn 2 in E 
  • Haydn: Symphony No. 31 “Hornsignal,” II. Mm. 36-38, horn 2 in D (Excerpt 3)
  • Strauss: Don Quixote, Variation VII, rehearsal 57 to 5 after rehearsal 58, horn 2 (Excerpt 2)
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Trio, pick up to 171-205, horn 2 in Eb (Excerpt 3)
  • Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz, mm. 10-25, horn 4 in C 

 

Quartet Competition 

 

Eligibility

Students entering this competition must high school students or be enrolled at a college or university as undergraduate or graduate student and must not currently hold a teaching position at a college or university (graduate assistantships excepted). 

 

Rules

  • There is one required work for all quartets. 

  • Each quartet should choose up to 10 minutes of additional music. It is highly encouraged to include music by at least one composer (or arranger) of an underrepresented group, such as women, persons of African or indigenous North or South American descent, or persons of Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity. 

  • Each quartet must supply the judges with two photocopied scores of each piece performed other than the required work. 

 

Required Piece

Kerry Turner, Fanfare for Barcs

Purchase

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