Songfest Performance Application

Performance Opportunity at the National Conference

What?

Leonard Bernstein’s Songfest, commissioned for America’s Bicentennial, is a twelve-movement work for six singers and orchestra. It presents a kaleidoscope of American poetry—from the early Puritan voice of Anne Bradstreet to contemporary writers like June Jordan and Lawrence Ferlinghetti—exploring themes of love, loss, identity, and artistic truth. Bernstein’s music mirrors these tensions: celebratory yet questioning, personal yet collective.

Who?

We invite submissions from singers and pianists to perform a selection from Songfest during the closing plenary session on July 6, 2026. Different performers will be featured for each movement, with up to 42 singers participating. Opportunities include:

• Solos for soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, and bass
• Two sextets
• Two duets
• Trio

How?

Interested performers should submit:

• Completed application (indicating which movement/piece you are interested in performing.)
• Link to a recent recording
• Headshot

Preference for the duets, trio, and sextets will go to ensembles that submit as a unit, and that can rehearse before the conference. Rehearsal time at the conference will be limited to one run-through. The ensembles should submit one application, and the links can be to a previous ensemble performance, or links to each individual singer’s performance.

Additional Information:

• Current NATS members are invited to submit.
• All selected participants are required to register for the conference.
• You do not need to be an American citizen to apply to perform.
• There is no compensation for performances.
• A collaborative pianist will be provided in San Antonio, but you may perform with a pianist of your choosing that comes to the conference with you. 

Instructions

Application Requirements:

• Completed application (indicating which movement/piece you are interested in performing.)
• Link to a recent recording
• Headshot

Preference for the duets, trio, and sextets will go to ensembles that submit as a unit, and that can rehearse before the conference. Rehearsal time at the conference will be limited to one run-through. The ensembles should submit one application, and the links can be to a previous ensemble performance, or links to each individual singer’s performance.

Application Deadline:

• The deadline for submissions is Monday, January 5, 2026.
• Acceptance will be announced no later than Monday, February 2, 2026.

Your Submissions