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REMINDER MESSAGE from our REGIONAL Governor

1) 2016 Regional NATS
Deadline: January 21, 2016
www.natsauditions.com

The 2016 Regional NATS auditions will be held on the campus of the Western University (formerly the University of Western Ontario) in London, Ontario on Saturday, February 27. Barbara Dunn-Prosser will serve as the site host.

Rather than using printed forms and mailing them in as we have done in the past, we will use natsauditions.com to register. I hesitated to ask another change of you, but I am told by the chapter officers for Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario that you’re all using this for your chapter auditions anyway. Hopefully, there won’t be too many frustrations caused by moving to this for registration. I anticipate that registration will open up on December 21 and will close on January 21.

TO REGISTER:
1. Login to www.natsauditions.com
2. You will see the following message:
Welcome to the Ontario NATS Chapter Audition Scheduling Website

What would you like to do?

• Register Students for Ontario – NATS ON Chapter Auditions 2015
• View Schedule for Ontario – NATS ON Chapter Auditions 2015
• Register Students for Great Lakes Region – 2016 Student Auditions
• View Schedule for Great Lakes Region – 2016 Student Auditions
• Update My Contact Info
• FAQs
• Support

3. Select REGISTER STUDENTS FOR GREAT LAKES REGION4. Fill in forms the same way you did as for Chapter Auditions.

   5. Questions?  Email Brian Horne

As you probably know already, the national board of NATS voted to require all chapters and regions to conform to guidelines which will enable a smooth process for everyone who chooses to participate in the National Student Auditions.

Information about this new system has been distributed throughout the fall, but you can review it all here:

http://www.nats.org/_Library/docs/NATS_Audition_Regulations_Aug_4.pdf

We will use this new system in February. I will write with more detail about this when the time comes, but for now please make certain – absolutely certain – that your travel plans enable you to arrive in time for the teachers’ meeting on Saturday morning the 27th at 9:00am.

Please note that teachers will be permitted to enroll students in a classical category AND a musical theater category OR the Hall Johnson Spiritual Category (explained below), but not all three.

2) Hall Johnson Spiritual Category

For the first time, there will be a Hall Johnson Spiritual Category included in Regional NATS. Entrants may enter their applicable “classical category” (sophomore women, junior men, etc.) AND the Hall Johnson Spiritual Category.

More information can be found here:

http://www.nats.org/Hall_Johnson_Spirituals_Competition.html

Please note that the age requirements for this are ages 17-23 only.

3) 2017 Regional NATS

Regional NATS will be held on March 4, 2017 at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

4) 2015 NATS Intern program

The Great Lakes region was well-represented at the 2015 NATS Intern program held at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. Mary Ann Hart of Indiana University was one of the four master teachers. Four of the 12 interns – chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants – were from the Great Lakes region:

Maribeth Crawford – Walsh University in Canton, OH
Peter C. Keates – Wright State University in Dayton, OH
Linda McAlister – Miami University in Oxford, OH
Angela Young Smucker – Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN

5) 2015 NSA participants

The Great Lakes Region participants in the 2015 National Student Auditions were:

Shannon Barry of DePauw University, Greencastle, IN (student of Pamela Coburn) Blake Beckemeyer of DePauw University, Greencastle, IN (student of Caroline Smith) Ashlee Bickley (student of Keith Brautigam)
Logan Dell’Acqua of DePauw University (student of Caroline Smith)

Desiree Johnson of Bowling Green State University (student of Myra Merritt) Samuel Witmer of Ohio University (student of Debra Rentz)

6) 2016 NATSAA

As you know, the national board of NATS voted to incorporate changes to NATSAA beginning with the 2016 auditions. The primary change at this point is that the chapter round has been eliminated. The first round will now be at the regional level. This presents some benefits and some difficulties.

The benefits are that the costs to mount the auditions for the each of the chapters have been eliminated. There were costs to arrange for judges, venues, pianists, etc., and there will now no longer be a need for that. Unfortunately, for our region, this means that to enter and compete in even the first round means that someone from the region will have to have a passport. Either Canadians will have to cross the border (and, therefore, must have a passport) to compete, or Americans will have to cross the border, depending on the venue of the competition. There will be a more significant outlay of cash just to enter the first round.

Traditionally, the NATSAA regional finals have been held the night before the regional NATS auditions wherever they were to be held. I believe the hope was that this would become part of the event, but nearly no one attended because it meant having to arrive early, and most people don’t have that luxury.

I have decided to decouple these two events, so regional NATS will be held on February 27 in London, ON, and the regional NATSAA competition (now the first round) will be held on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, MI in metro Detroit on April 2, 2016. Drake Dantzler, president of the Michigan chapter will act as the local coordinator. The deadline to apply is January 13, 2016. More information about repertoire and other requirements can be found here:

http://www.nats.org/nats-artist-awards.html

7) 2018 NATSAA

The NATS Board voted on and approved significant changes to NATSAA for the next round in 2018. Norman Spivey and Allen Henderson both advocated for a change of date for this, feeling that holding the competition in the summer limited the participation of high-level singers who have summer commitments with young artist programs. There was a great deal of conversation about this, but in the end the Board voted to move the NATSAA finals to a date in the winter. The exact details of this are yet to be set, but it is quite likely that the NATSAA finals and the finals of the National Musical Theater Competition will be held in New York in January, 2018. This, of course, means that the entire timeline will have to be moved up – for applications, regional competitions, etc.

Since I represent you on the national Board, I feel compelled to tell you that I was adamantly opposed to this change for a variety of reasons. I voted against this, but the motion passed with about 60% support nevertheless. I would be happy to speak with you about this if you should like to contact me (blhorne@indiana.edu; 812-855-2380), but for now this is the plan.

8) Upcoming opportunities

There are many opportunities for which the applications are due in December, January, or February. You can read more details about these here:

http://www.nats.org/programs.html

But, here is a listing of the deadlines:

NATS Intern Program: December 15, 2015
Emerging Leaders Awards: January 24, 2016
Joan Frey Boytim Awards for Independent Teachers: February 1, 2016 NATS Foundation Voice Pedagogy Award: February 15, 2016