Audition/Nomination Procedures: Northern Kentucky University, Greater Cincinnati Region

For students interested in the Wind Symphony, your Director will need to fill out the Director Nomination Form and submit no later than Friday, 17 November at 5pm. The ensemble will be selected with properly balanced and appropriate instrumentation in mind, but we will do our very best to ensure that every director who submits a nomination form has at least 1-2 students selected. There will be a brief seating audition when you arrive on campus, after you register.

The seating audition will be drawn from the Wind Orchestra audition excerpts, however, the student will only do #1 (a chromatic scale), #2 (but will only be responsible for two scales of the student’s choosing), and only one of the four musical excerpts (student’s choice). Audition music can be found here.

For those students interested in auditioning for the Wind Orchestra, please read the following instructions carefully. Failure to properly label a video, or to send it via the wrong service, may result in an inadmissible audition. Before submitting a video audition, please fill out the Student Application Form, ensuring all of the information on it is correct.

Check here for some great Audition Tips that may help you...

Audition Excerpts

What to Play

All students interested in the Wind Orchestra will perform the Tri-State Symposium audition music corresponding to your particular instrument. The excerpts can be found here. Please pay close attention to the instructions, and contact us if you have any questions. Pianists and Harpists should perform an excerpt of your own choosing, between 1:30 and 2:00 in length. Please select something that demonstrates technical and lyrical facility.

Recording Your Audition

Use the highest-quality audio and video level you are capable of. In most cases, a smartphone should be able to take acceptable video of your audition. Save your recording in .avi, .mov, or .mp4 format. We are unable to open files that are in any other format.
Make sure you remain in the frame the entire time, and ensure that there is little to no background noise, which can be distracting and make assessment difficult.
Treat this as a professional audition – dress and act professionally. In most cases, this simply means dress nicely or in your "Sunday best." You don’t have to wear a tux or a suit or a dress, but you shouldn’t wear a grimy t-shirt and a ballcap, etc.
At the beginning of the recording, look into the camera and clearly state your name, year in school, and your high school’s name, as well as the name of your band director(s).
The recording should be filmed in one single take (except percussion*). Only unedited recordings will be accepted. When you are finished, simply stop the recording.
Review your recording to ensure the sound level is good, but do not edit the recording in any way. No one here will ever know how many takes it took for you to sound your best – make sure you submit the best possible representation of yourself.

*percussionists - you do not have to record your audition in a single take, you may record each instrument separately.

Important: Rename your video file before submitting it to include your instrument and your name. For example: johndoe_oboe, janedoe_tuba, jimdoe_bassoon, etc.

Check here for some great Audition Tips that may help you...

Submitting Your Audition

Using the free service at wetransfer.com (make sure to use a valid return email), send your video audition to: pilaton1@nku.edu If you send your audition via email or another method, we will not be able to receive it - you must use WeTransfer. In the WeTransfer message field, put your Name, Instrument, and High School.
Once your video has uploaded and sent, you will receive an automated email receipt from WeTransfer confirming that you have sent the file. If you do not receive this receipt, check your spam folder. If you do not receive a receipt within an hour, please try submitting the video again.
When we receive your video, you will also receive a second automated receipt from WeTransfer confirming that we have downloaded your video. If you do not receive a confirmation within 48 hours, please check your spam folder, and/or contact us to ensure your video was received. We will not be responsible for any videos that are not received or submitted properly. If you do not receive a confirmation email from WeTransfer, you should assume that we did not receive your file.
Give yourself plenty of time to submit the video before the deadline...sometimes it may take an hour or two to upload your video and send, depending on the size of the file created.