NCFC is open to serious flute students, ages 12 - 18. At least 2 years playing experience and enrollment in private lessons is required. Students must commit to the full week session, with no exceptions made for conflicting or overlapping programs or outside activities. Applicants should have an active interest in flute study. Private teachers may be contacted for referral. An audition video or audio recording is required with the application for admission and ensemble placement (see Guidelines for Recording, below). Returning students need not submit an audition recording, although returning students who did not attend in the previous year are required to submit a recording.

Important note to new applicants: The NCFC currciculum is intensive, and demands a high level of focus from each student every day. Students must possess the ability to self-motivate and stay on task during individual practice hours, as well as focus during rehearsals, master classes, and seminar and electives classes for extended periods in order to have a successful camp experience.

In order to maximize your chances of admission, please read the following guidelines in their entirety prior to making your audition recording. 

Guidelines for Recording

A recording of the highest possible quality must accompany your application. You have two options for sending in your audition recording. You may either:

EMAIL THE AUDIO FILE to flutecamp@hotmail.com. You may send both selections as one file, or two separate files.  You must send the recording as an MP3 or AAC file. Do not send a WAV file, because you can easily exceed the maximum email attachment size.  Please include: “(Your name) NCFC AUDITION” in the subject field.  If you have trouble attaching and sending the file directly, or if you want to send a WAV file, you can instead send a link to the file through a file-sharing service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

-or-

CREATE A YouTube VIDEO:

  1. Log into your YouTube account and “Upload a Video” into your account (if you do not have a YouTube account, you can create one here)
  2. Name the video “(Your name), the name of the work, NCFC Audition”
  3. Mark the video “Unlisted”. Do not list your video as “Public”
  4. Send us a link to your YouTube video via email

PLEASE INDICATE YOUR MEANS OF SUBMITTING YOUR RECORDING IN THE DESIGNATED LINE ON YOUR APPLICATION. 

Recording Pointers

Record exactly two selections that offer contrast in style, periods, and tempo. Be sure to choose music that best demonstrates your abilities, and prepare the material thoroughly before recording.

  1. Piano accompaniment is not required, but is permitted if you feel it will yield a better performance. Omit long rests in unaccompanied recordings.
  2. Use the best equipment available to you. You do not need to spend a fortune to make a good recording, but you want the end result to clearly represent your playing. Recording on a smartphone is perfectly acceptable.
  3. Find a suitable location in which to record. A room that is acoustically neutral is best. A room that has too much echo or reverberation can obscure clarity. A room that is too "dead" can kill your sound.
  4. Microphone placement is important. We recommend placing the mic 8 feet away from your flute at a height of 7 feet.
  5. Check your recording level. Too high a level can distort, too low can make the recording difficult to hear.
  6. Do not electronically enhance the recording. Natural room reverb is best for our purposes.
  7. Do not edit the recording. It is fine to send us the best take out of 2 or 3 passes, but please send an honest representation of your playing.
  8. And perhaps most importantly: Choose repertoire that you can play well. We prefer clean playing over valiant but unfortunate attempts at music that is currently technically out-of-reach.
  9. Ask your teacher to listen to and approve your recording, if they have not been involved in producing it. An extra set of well-trained ears is invaluable.
  10. Have fun! This is an exciting part of your experience, and we look forward to hearing you play!

SUGGESTED REPERTOIRE (2 movements only, total)

  • Any Baroque sonata or suite
  • Any Mozart concerto, or other classical concerto
  • Any work from the French or contemporary repertoire
  • An etude (Andersen, Cavally, etc.)
  • A work from a collection
  • Recordings of all-state excerpts or other competition submissions made within the last year are acceptable for one of your two choices