MTNA COMPETITION
Where Talent Takes the Stage
The MTNA National Competitions are a premier opportunity for young musicians to showcase their performance and composition skills on a national level. Open to both members and non-members, the journey begins at the state level—right here in Colorado.
Registration deadline: September 10, 2025 (passed)
Event date: October 18, 2025
Location: Lamont School of Music, University of Denver
Event Chair: Davina Perret, NCTM
MTNA sponsors a national competition in performance and composition that is open to members and non-members.
Each state association is responsible for holding and staffing the first round of competitions.
The 2025 Colorado State MTNA Competitions will take place at the Lamont School of Music (DU) on October 18.
For information on guidelines, repertoire, and application process, visit the MTNA Competitions page.
For a list of guidelines and to register, please click here.
NEW THIS YEAR: Brass and Voice (Senior and Young Artist only) Performance Competitions
Performance Competitions are two-tiered competitions: the Preliminary Round, by video submission only; and the Final Round, live at the MTNA National Conference. Entrants will compete without regard to the state or division in which they live or take lessons. Seven finalists will be selected in both the Brass and Voice categories from a nationwide pool of applicants to compete in the final round.** Application deadline: December 3, 2025
For question on specific competition categories, contact these CO state coordinators:
Junior and Young Artist Coordinator: Laura Rogers
Senior Coordinator: Peter Friesen
Composition Coordinator: Jodie Jensen, NCTM
MTNA active membership dues must be paid before submission of the application.
A $200 nonmember teacher fee will be assessed if entrant's teacher has not paid active membership dues for the 2025–2026 membership year.
Congratulations to the 2024 Colorado State MTNA competition participants and their teachers. The winners went on to compete at the West Central Division competitions and to the National Finals.
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Applications will be approved very quickly if all information is included in the online application. Delays will result if the national coordinators find it necessary to contact students for clarification or more information.
Type or write out all repertoire before starting the application so it can just be copied into the application.
For consistency and uniformity in listing repertoire, the competitions committee has adopted several policies:We use the following spellings even though some editions use different spelling for certain composers: Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev
For Bach works, we use BWV, even though many string editions list the S. number. Since the numbers are the same, we have opted to use BWV.
Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn piano sonatas are identified only by key and Op./K/Hob. numbers (not Sonata "No. 1", etc.).
For Schubert selections, use either the D. or Op. number, but not both.
Keys are spelled out, using capital letters for both Major and Minor: A Minor, C-sharp Major, D-flat Minor, etc.
In the following examples, items in Italics are incorrect.
1. Incorrect:
Piano Sonata in c, opus 27, #2, "Moonlight"
Correct:
Sonata in C Minor, Op. 27, No. 2
a. Redundancies are omitted: do no use Piano Sonata, Violin Concerto, and so on.*The exception is if a work is played on an instrument different than that for which it was written. For example, a viola student might be playing a cello sonata. In this case, it would be listed as Cello Sonata.
b. Abbreviations used: Op. (for Opus), No. (for number, not #).
c. Do not use nicknames: "Waldstein", "Pathetique", "Moonlight", "Devil's Trill", "Hamburger", etc.
2. Incorrect:
Prelude and Fugue in c
Correct:
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, WTC II, BWV 871
Bach wrote two volumes of Preludes and Fugues in identical keys, so the correct volume and BWV number should be identified.
3. Incorrect: (example of a saxophone program fulfilling the two-style period requirement as a Baroque selection)
Sonata No. 6...........Handel
Correct:
Sonata No. 6, HWV 373..............George Frideric Handel arr. Marcel Mule
a. List the entire name of the composer.
b. List the identifying number, if possible
c. List the transcriber or arranger, if available.
4. Incorrect:
Sonata in C, mvts. 1 & 2
Correct:
Sonata in C Major, Op. 1, No. 2
I. Allegro
II. Andante
Correct: If the program is over the time limit, list the individual timings for multi-movement works:
Sonata in C Major, Op. 1, No. 2
I. Allegro (4:50)
II. Andante (2:35)
5. Incorrect:
Sonata in C Major, Op. 1, No. 2
I. Allegro
Sonata in C Major, Op. 1, No. 2
II. Andante
Correct:
Sonata in C Major, Op. 1, No. 2
I. Allegro
II. Andante
Movements of the same work should be listed in the same field, using returns.
6. Incorrect (for vocal program)
Non piu andrai from The Marriage of Figaro........Mozart
Correct:
Non piu andrai (Le Nozze di Figaro)........Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
a. List the source of a work in parentheses.
b.The source is listed in the program in Italics. It is not possible to use Italics on the application, but you can use parentheses.
c. List full name of composer.
7. Tempo markings are needed only when appropriate, usually for movements of a multi-movement work that do not have other titles:
Incorrect:
Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
I. Prelude (Moderato)
Correct:
Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
I. Prelude
8. Capitalization:
Incorrect:
Allegro Con Spirito
Correct:
Allegro con spirito
Usually, only the first word should be capitalized in tempo markings. There are some exceptions. For example: Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace; Lento, quasi Andante.
9. Incomplete repertoire:
String student:
Incorrect:
Sarabanda from Partita No. 2
Correct:
Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
II. Sarabanda
We need complete identification of the work being programmed.
Piano student:
Incorrect:
Prelude Suite III......Bach
Is this an English Suite, French Suite? What is the BWV number? We have to contact students to get the correct information, which takes extra time.