Professional Flute Choir Competition

The Professional Flute Choir Competition is open to all professional-level flutists and flute teachers. A panel of judges will select flutists to perform in the Professional Flute Choir at the 2026 NFA Convention in Portland.

PFC members do not need to be full-time musicians; they can have day jobs as long as they can play at a professional level with professional-level performance experience. PFC members can also be graduate students.

Competition Requirements*

All flutists must be current NFA members at the time the entry is submitted. If chosen to perform or present during the convention, flutists must also be current members at the time of the convention and register for the convention by July 1, 2026. To join or renew, go to nfaonline.org/signup.
Completed entry
Uploaded files
$65 entry fee (paid during submission process)

All entrants must submit their entry, upload recordings/supplemental materials, and pay competition and membership fees by 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time, Thursday, February 12, 2026.

Recorded Round Repertoire

Each piece should be uploaded as a separate file in the following order. All uploaded files must be audio recordings. No videos are allowed.

C Flute: Jay Batzner, Mercurial for flute and fixed audio (https://jaybatzner.com/product/mercurial-score-and-performance-media/)

Entrants wishing to perform on piccolo in the flute choir must add the following to their audition recording in addition to the C-flute repertoire.

Piccolo: Alice Jones, Tiny Efforts 2021, “Sour Magic” (https://www.alicehjones.com/tinyefforts2021.html)

Entrants wishing to perform on alto, bass, or contrabass in the flute choir need only submit a recording of the corresponding repertoire (C-Flute not required):

Alto: Ali Ryerson, Jazz Dream for solo alto flute (Theodore Presser)
Bass: Alice Jones, Tiny Efforts 2022 “False Joys of Time” (https://www.alicehjones.com/tinyefforts2022.html)
Contrabass: Alice Jones, Tiny Efforts 2020, “The People Could Fly” (https://www.alicehjones.com/tinyefforts2020.html)
- no repeats

All Recorded Round repertoire must be recorded with pre-recorded or live piano accompaniment.

How to Prepare/Record Mercurial for Flute and Fixed Media

Do not use a click track for your recording. Please follow the suggestions below. The judges will know that you have been asked to not use a click track and that variations in coordination with the backing track are acceptable.

Find a device to play the audio in the background so that your flute and the backing track can be heard in your audition recording.
Listen to the metronome for a few beats to get into the groove of Q=50.
Listen to the backing track and follow the score a few times to get an idea of the sound cues. If measure 17 turns into a fermata because you get there too soon, that's OK. Listen for the silence in the backing track in measure 17 and then the low sound in measure 18 for your cue to continue.
If you get to measure 21 too early or too late, it's ok. Just listen for the backing track in measure 21 and make sure you're with it at measure 23. The section between measures 23 and 56 are the only measures that absolutely need to be with the backing track.
Measures 56 to 76 are like the beginning: Listen to the sounds as a guide while making your part musical.
Measure 76 sneaks in so it's not always possible to hear the beginning of the measure. That's OK! Start counting as soon as you hear it and just go for it. Try to not be more than 2-3 beats off from the backing track in the measure 76-98 section. It's OK if the backing track beats you to measure 98 or you beat it to 98. Just make it steady.
Be expressive, musical, and have fun in measure 99 to the end.

* Competitions are subject to all rules and regulations on this page as well as the General Competition Information and Rules and Regulations. Incomplete entries will be subject to disqualification.

Coordinator

Meerenai Shim
flutemusic@gmail.com