Auditions - Students

The Cal-Western Regional NATS semi-final auditions will take place on Saturday, January 17 at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.  In addition, throughout the weekend there will be student-facing sessions and clinics as part of the conference. All students who participated in the video round have access to the conference.

Semi-finals: Students will sing auditions in front of a panel of three judges, who will provide scores and comments. Students will select and slate their first piece, and the judges will select the next, up to the time limit defined by the category. Students must sing the same repertoire in all rounds of the auditions, including the national rounds should they advance. 

Some sub-categories may be combined to comply with national rules, which only allow us two slates of National YouTube finalists per category . This means if there were more than 2 sections of a category in the video round (MT 3B had 4, for example), they will be combined into 2 semi-finals. These semi-finals can have up to 14 students (more if there are 7th place ties in the video round). 

CWR Finals and National YouTube Round: The top 5 students in each category who ALSO receive an average score of 90 or above or two scores of 90 or above, will be eligible to participate in the National YouTube round.  The top 3 students in each category who also meet the 90+ standard will move onto the CWR finals, to be held on the afternoon of Sunday, January 18, 2026.  Students must meet both the ranking and the score criteria to move forward.

Finalists will perform a 3 minute cut of one of their semi-final pieces. Any NATS member present may judge by ranking the students (no comments).  Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony immediately following the finals.   

Pianists: Hall Johnson Spirituals, Musical Theater, and Classical Division students must perform with piano accompaniment.  The student’s teacher may not accompany them. If a student wishes to use a staff pianist, the teacher must indicate this in the semi-final registration. The fees for staff pianists are $40 for up to 3 selections and $50 for 4 or more, paid at registration. Students must use the same pianist in the semi-final and the final auditions. Commercial Music students may perform with some combination of backing tracks, pianist, or self-accompaniment as permitted by the category. Commercial Music students must perform with the mic and sound system provided. 

Students who choose a staff pianist can arrange a rehearsal with the pianist before the audition, at the pianist’s discretion and for an extra fee (set by the pianist).  There will be dedicated space provided at San Jose State for rehearsals on the afternoon and evening of Friday, January 16. The fee covers both the semi-final and the final if the student advances. 

Chaperones: All students under 18 at the time of the semi-finals must be accompanied by a parent or approved chaperone (not the student’s teacher).  Parents should complete and return the chaperone form(pdf) to teachers, who must submit all the forms for their studio by January 10.