North American Saxophone Alliance

Region 7 Conference

2025 Collegiate Solo Competition

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, March 14-16

Conference host: Allison Adams

Competition coordinator: Matthew Younglove

1^st Prize: $400 in cash

2^nd Prize: $200 in cash

3^rd Prize: $100 in cash

Additional merchandise prizes may be added to the awards.

The First Place Prize Winner will be featured on the Winners’ Recital at the 2025 NASA Region 7 Conference. The Winners’ Recital will be held in the early afternoon of Sunday, March 16, 2025.

I. Eligibility

1. Contestants must be no older than 26 as of March 15, 2025.
2. All contestants must be current members of the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) as of March 1, 2025.
3. First Place Prizewinners from any previous NASA Solo Competitions may not enter.  

ll. Application Guidelines

1. The deadline for submission of applications and fees is March 1, 2025. All application materials must be submitted online via Google form link available on the first page of this document. 
2. Contestants must submit an entry fee of $35. All payments must be made through the online application by March 1, 2025.  
3. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
4. The contestant’s birth date must be verified at the competition site with the contestant’s driver’s license, birth certificate, or passport. Any contestant who does not show proof of age, or is older than 26 years of age as of March 15, 2025, will be disqualified.
5. There will be one round of the 2025 NASA Region 7 Collegiate Solo Competition as part of the 2025 NASA Region 7 Conference.
6. Due to the logistical difficulties of preparing facilities, dates listed in the application for Competition and Winners Recitals are subject to slight change. 

lll. Competition Repertoire

1. –EITHER–
   • Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op 19 by Paul Creston, movements II and III
   • –OR–
   • Sonata in C# for alto saxophone and piano by Fernande Decruck, movements I and II
2. Additional music of the performer’s choice.
   • Must not exceed 15 minutes in length in total
   • Selected movements from a larger work are allowed 
   • Solo works without piano are permitted
3. The total amount of performance time (including transitions) for the competition is not to exceed 25 minutes. Contestants will NOT be penalized for submissions with too little or too much; however, adjudication will not consider more than 25 minutes of total performance time. 
4. All performers must provide one original copy of the score(s) for the choice repertoire. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. If the choice repertoire involves piano, the performer must submit a digital copy (scan) with their application. 

IV. General Guidelines

1. All communication with all competitors will be handled via email; therefore all contestants must be able to receive email communications throughout the entire competition.  It is the responsibility of the competitors to make sure they can receive communications via email.
2. The Winners Recital will feature the First Place Prize Winner in the Collegiate Solo Competition and will be held at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 7 Conference in Knoxville, TN. The Winners’ Recital will be held in the early afternoon of Sunday, March 16, 2025.
3. Eligible contestants may also enter the Quartet Competition but they must submit a separate application and separate entry fee for each category entered.
4. All fees and dues are non-refundable. 
5. All expenses, including lodging and transportation to and from the competition, are the sole responsibility of the contestants.
6. A minimum of 10 entries is required to hold this competition. Entry fees will be refunded if the competition is canceled.
7. Choice repertoire in all rounds may be programmed as complete multi-movement works or individual movements from multi-movement works and may be played on any saxophone. Works may be accompanied or unaccompanied, but must be performed with piano if they are composed with piano.
8. Competitors will have the opportunity to hire a NASA staff pianist. Staff pianist fee is $100. You must be available on site to rehearse on site if you request a staff pianist. If you choose to use a NASA staff pianist, you must get repertoire approval for your non-required piece if that piece has a piano part. Email a score to [email protected] to request this approval.
9. If you are planning to hire a NASA staff pianist, please think strategically about the repertoire you are choosing to program. You will only have one 30-minute rehearsal, so pick repertoire that can be put together within these time constraints. If you have a question about repertoire selection when factoring in the difficulty of the piano part, please email the NASA Region 7 Competition Organizer, Dr. Matthew Younglove, at [email protected]. You must be available on site to rehearse if you request a competition pianist. While unlikely, it is possible that the staff pianist may reject your repertoire. Communication in advance of the registration deadline is key.
10. The judges reserve the right to request specific movements and/or excerpts of each performer’s program due to time constraints. This could include judges asking contestants to stop within a movement and skip to a different section. 
11. Professional musicians will judge the competition.

Questions may be directed to the NASA Region 7 Competition Organizer, Matthew Younglove, via email at [email protected]