Western States Honor Orchestra Festival

November 6-8, 2025 | UNC Campus Commons

Each year, the University of Northern Colorado hosts the Western States Honor Orchestra Festival in Greeley, Colorado, at UNC Campus Commons. Audition requirements and excerpts are posted below. All high school students (9th-12th grade) both in and outside of Colorado are eligible to participate.

Successful musicians, chosen by their audition recordings, will be formed into two orchestras: a conductorless Chamber Orchestra led by UNC string faculty in the principal spots of each section and a larger Symphony Orchestra that will include UNC wind players. Over the three days, there will be masterclasses, sectional rehearsals, lectures and a number of rehearsals for each ensemble. We look forward to welcoming you and your students to WSHOF!

Contact:

PVA Events & Ensembles

PVAEvents@unco.edu

Check out the festival experience.

2025 Repertoire

Symphony Orchestra

Funeral Rite (Todtenfeier) from Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler
Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez

Chamber Orchestra

Entr’acte by Caroline Shaw
String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110 by Dmitri Shostakovich

Audition Materials

Violin
Violin
- Scales: E Major, G Melodic Minor, Chromatic. (Tempo as marked.)
- Excerpts
- A Piece of your choice that is most indicative of your musical and technical abilities, 2 ½ minute time limit
Download Materials
Viola
Viola
- Scales: D Major, F Melodic Minor, Chromatic. (Tempo as marked.)
- Excerpts
- A Piece of your choice that is most indicative of your musical and technical abilities, 2 ½ minute time limit
Download Materials
Cello
Cello
- Scales: B Major, G Melodic Minor, Chromatic. (Tempo as marked.)
- Excerpts
- A Piece of your choice that is most indicative of your musical and technical abilities, 2 ½ minute time limit
Download Materials
Bass
Bass
- Scales: F Major, E Melodic Minor. (Tempo as marked.)
- Excerpts
- A Piece of your choice that is most indicative of your musical and technical abilities, 2 ½ minute time limit
Download Materials

Read some audition recording tips

Audition Materials

Submit the registration form by Friday, September 26, 2025. (Registration coming late summer, 2025.)
Upon submission, you will be redirected to the portal, where you can pay your $35 audition fee and upload your recording.
Audition Recording Requirements:
- The audition file (mp3 file) must be labeled: LastName_FirstName_School_Instrument.mp3
- All required audition material must be included in one file in the following order: Scales, Orchestral Excerpts, Solo Selection. Only one file including all audition requirements should be submitted per applicant. An announcement of the student name and instrument is NOT required at the beginning of the recording.
- Audition recordings must be recorded without accompaniment. Recordings must also be unedited with no added “overdubs” or reverb.
- Mp3 files must be compressed at a bit rate 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.