Directors

General Information

  • Colorado All State Orchestra 2027 will be held at Colorado State University’s Center for the Arts (1400 Remmington St) in Fort Collins February 4-6, 2027.

  • All participating schools must be current CHSAA Members or in the process of becoming one.

  • All participating Directors must be an active NAfME member. You will provide your NAfME member number during the audition submission process.

  • In order for students to be eligible to participate in ASO, they must be enrolled in a performing ensemble within your program for the entire year.

  • The audition fee is $35 per student, and the participation fee for accepted students is $72 per student. Directors make all payments on behalf of their student(s). The payment links (through CMEA) can be found in the audition portal and will be linked below as soon as possible. Students and parents should not make any fee payments. No refunds can be issued for double payments.

The Director’s Responsibilities

  1. Prior to audition submission, you must create an AuditionHub.org account. Some Directors created an account in previous years and will not have to do so again. This is where you will upload the student audition(s). You will need the student(s) name, grade, instrument and, if a string player, the composer/title of their solo piece.

  2. As soon as you have submitted the audition(s), you will visit the CMEA link to pay the $35 per student audition fee.

  3. REQUIRED: Make sure to remind your student(s) that they must complete the Student Participation Contract before their audition will be considered. This form is linked in the “Student” tab above.

Audition Hub
Directors Only - Registration Fee Payment

Audition Process

Once registration opens for Colorado All State Orchestra Auditions, directors will register themselves and will also register students. Students will not need to complete a separate registration.

Directors, your NAfME membership must be up-to-date in order for your students to audition and participate in ASO. Additionally your school must be a CHSAA Sanctioned School or in the process of becoming one. 

In order for students to be eligible to participate in ASO, they must be enrolled in a performing ensemble within your programs for the entire year. Standard eligibility rules also apply (grades and number of credits). 

IMPORTANT: Submitting directors must make the payment for all ASO fees such as the Audition and Registration fees. It is up to directors to collect money if students are paying for themselves. No students or parents should be paying for this. The Payment Link is now embedded in the Director portal. Students and parents should not make any audition fee payments. No refunds will be issued for double payments. The audition fee is $35.

For your planning purposes, all participating students will need to be chaperoned at all times by a person designated by the school - this may be a teacher, administrator, parent volunteer or other school employee. We understand the challenges that this presents and appreciate your efforts to plan ahead for this.

Auditions are due Friday, November 13, 2026 @ 5PM and are submitted by the director. Auditions may be submitted beginning September 18. For schools submitting a significant number of auditions, it is advisable to aim for your students to submit their recordings to you early in order to give you enough time to organize the recordings and submit them before the deadline. 

The audition process follows these steps: 

1. Director will complete their registration on AuditionHub.org (linked above). Some directors created an account in previous years and will not have to do so again. This is where you will upload the student audition(s). You will need the student(s) name, grade, instrument, and, if a string player, the composer/title of their solo piece.

2. Students submit recordings to directors (or directors help students make recordings) REQUIRED: Make sure to remind your student(s) that they must complete the Student Participation Contract before their audition will be considered. This form is linked in the “Student” tab above.

3. Director listens to auditions to ensure that the recording is in fact your student and that all materials are present. Students caught submitting dishonest recordings may be deemed ineligible to audition in the future. Schools with repeated dishonest recordings that are not caught by the director may lose eligibility.

4. Directors submit the each student’s audition in one mp3 file. 

5. Directors will pay the $35 per student audition fee via the CMEA link.

Audition Guidelines

Audio ONLY audition recordings (mp3 files only) must be submitted by the director in AuditionHub.org

  • All required audition material must be included in one file in the following order: Scales, Orchestral Excerpts, Solo Selection (Solo selection is for strings and piano only). Solo selection should be between 2 and 2.5 minutes in length.

  • There should not be any speaking on the recording. Do NOT announce the student name.

  • String players may refer to the standard literature lists for solo ideas. Pianists may choose whichever solo they would like. It should showcase technique and musicality. Piano solos are not rated based on difficulty. String solos are rated based on difficulty. Please see our policies page for more information on string solos. It is NEVER a good idea to play a solo that is too hard to earn the points associated with it. Playing a solo that is at your level well gives you the best chance of making All State Orchestra.

  • Audition recordings must be recorded without accompaniment. Any section recorded with accompaniment will be given 0 points for that section.

  • Audition recordings must be recorded without an audible metronome. Any section recorded with a metronome will be given 0 points for that section.

  • Recordings must also be completely unedited with no added “overdubs,” reverb, or pitch correction. You may splice together separate recordings of each scale, excerpt, and solo, but please do not edit the individual elements. This type of editing will be considered a dishonest audition and may forfeit eligibility.

  • Mp3 files must be compressed at a bitrate of no more than 256 kbps. Files larger than 20MB will not be accepted. Consider that the quality of the audition recording may reasonably affect the perception of the adjudicators.

  • Students can submit auditions on multiple instruments for no additional fee (ex. a separate audition for flue and piccolo are required.)

  • Video submissions will not be accepted.

  • Students will be adjudicated based on the rubric linked on the Audition Information page. Completed rubrics with feedback will be emailed to the director after the event.

    Audition Integrity

  • All audition recordings must be submitted exactly as performed. Any form of audio editing is strictly prohibited, including but not limed to splicing, cutting, looping, pitch correction, tempo adjustment, noise reduction, added effects, or any other digital alteration. Submission of an edited recording will result in automatic disqualification form the current All-State Orchestra audition process. Additionally, students caught submitting dishonest recordings may be deemed ineligible to audition in the future.