How do I record and submit my CBDA audition?

Your director creates your 2027 audition record first. You record the MP3s, upload them, complete DocuSign, pay the $55 fee, then click Submit for Director Approval. Your director reviews and submits before the deadline. Your audition is complete only when your status shows Submitted for Review or Submitted for Judging. Uploading does not complete your audition.

Is there sight-reading on the CBDA audition, and how is it judged?

Sight-reading is not listed in the concert-band instructions or the jazz general blocks. Judging is blind. Judges' names, points and a rubric are not published.

When will I find out if I made CBDA All-State?

The instructions say high school results mid-November and junior high towards the end of November, by email when posted. The FAQ says posted online mid-November.

What if I miss a rehearsal after I make CBDA All-State?

Accepted students must come prepared, attend all rehearsals and stay for the performance, or they may be ineligible for future CBDA All-State. A replacement list is not published.

All-State posting

California All-State band audition requirements

Auditions are recorded, not live.

CBDA | Recorded high school honor-band audition

Waiting for results

Check CBDA for Recorded high school honor-band audition results. Expected release: Results will be posted online mid-November..

Keep a passage of your etude ready, or start music for your next goal.

Check official results information

Last checked October 6, 2026 | Official source: https://cbda.org/faqs/

What to work on this week

Use this plan for your next round, a solo, or next season. Not taking another audition? Choose music with your director and use the same steps.

5 minutes - Review a familiar scale or pattern. Choose one connected to the etude. Keep the tempo comfortable.
10 minutes - Revisit an etude passage. Choose a section you want to keep ready. Work slowly where needed.
5 minutes - Record and check. Record a short section. Listen with the score and mark one detail to practice next.
10 minutes - Read something different. Try a short, unfamiliar piece or a possible solo. Look over its key, meter, and rhythms before playing.

Dated tryouts

For concert band, you submitted for director approval, then your director submitted high school recordings by 9:00 PM October 15, 2026; junior high recordings are due by 9:00 PM November 2, 2026; the audition fee is $55. Checks for all auditions must be postmarked November 2, 2026.
Source Read October 15, 2026.

This page reports what the official organization posted. Virtunity does not write audition requirements.

Confirm every date and requirement with your director. Organizations update packets.

Back to all states

CBDA

California Band Directors Association (CBDA)

2026-27 materials are posted.

Ensembles: All-State Honor Bands (High School, grades 9-12), All-State Honor Bands (Junior High, grades 7-8), All-State Honor Jazz Bands (High School and Junior High)
Season: 2026-27
Audition window: High school recordings closed 9:00 PM October 15, 2026; results post mid-November. Junior high recordings are due by 9:00 PM on November 2, 2026. The 2027 All-State Honor Bands perform at the convention January 13-17, 2027.
Instruments: winds and percussion (jazz auditions have their own separate instructions)

What the organization posted

Auditions are recorded, not live. Students record required scales plus the prepared solo excerpts, save the files as MP3s, and upload them through the CBDA Digital Audition System from their own student account after the director creates a 2027 record. The student then submits for director approval; the director must then submit the recordings for judging. The scales and solo list for this cycle is Cycle B, and the required scale sheets and audition excerpts are downloaded per level from the CBDA auditions page. These recording rules are the concert-band instructions: auditions are judged blind so the recording must not identify the student, no spoken words may be recorded, no piano accompaniment is allowed, a metronome must not be audible, tempo, pitch, rhythm or dynamics may not be digitally altered, and recordings may not be spliced within a musical phrase. Jazz is separate: one upload per item, one unedited take, with the accompaniment audible. The concert-band instructions do not list a sight-reading component.

Notes

Requirement detail read from the linked '2027 All-State Concert Band Ensembles Recording Instructions' document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TCl_5lDoovLgBsTqWsMbts1ZUliI1XTiNP67yPZ5AZw), reached via the CBDA auditions page. Scale sheets and excerpts sit in CBDA's own linked Google Drive folders (High School Scales, High School Excerpts, Junior High Scales, Junior High Excerpts), which were not opened individually, so the specific key list per instrument is not captured here. Jazz has separate junior high and high school instruction documents linked from the same page. CBDA also references a Golden State Honor Band and all-state orchestra participation options; orchestra auditions for strings are run by CODA. Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bITfCsw4_9M440pa-jCJsOv4CGYlFt4uG5qOifCBKuA/export?format=txt. Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jngXhQcy7hEjFcxYMcmXkoKhqO2pSIi8ywqvQjAv7f8/export?format=txt.

Retrieved from the organization's page on October 15, 2026.

Auditioning - California Band Directors Association

Practice for CBDA with your audition tempo, tuner and drone on one screen

Virtunity is a practice app built by a band director. Set up each scale and excerpt, then work it up a step at a time.

Scan with your iPhone to get Virtunity

Practice now in your browser: free tuner, metronome and drone

How it fits each part of this audition

Scales: Set up each scale in Virtunity and practice it with the metronome at your audition tempo, with the tuner and drone in the same window. Scale Checker confirms scale notes on your iPhone. Notes only. Not tone, rhythm or a complete performance.
Prepared excerpts: Keep the PDF in your Music Library and set the piece up in practice with the metronome, tuner and your notes beside it. Start under tempo: good reps in a row move the tempo up a step, and Keep lets you stay at the old tempo.
A recorded audition: Practice the run-through. Record a final take and listen back in Review before you record the real one. A saved take stays private until you choose to share it with a connected teacher.
Tone and intonation: Every judge listens for these. The tuner shows your note and how sharp or flat it is, and the drone gives you a steady reference pitch for long tones.
Tempo: Tap tempo finds a marked tempo, and subdivision clicks keep your eighths, triplets and sixteenths even.

For students 13 and up. Virtunity helps you prepare. Your playing on audition day earns the chair.

How CBDA All-State auditions work in California

High school recordings closed 9:00 PM October 15, 2026; results post mid-November. Junior high recordings are due 9:00 PM November 2, 2026. Checks must be postmarked November 2, 2026. First, download the scales and excerpts from the CBDA auditions page; give your director the Student Information Form; your director creates your 2027 audition record. You cannot upload until that is done. Second, record: one MP3 per scale; the solo excerpts combined into one MP3 in list order with 3-5 seconds of silence between; everything in the same room; no piano accompaniment, no spoken words, no audible metronome, no digital change to tempo, pitch, rhythm or dynamics, no splice inside a phrase. Judging is blind, so the recording must not identify you. A missing scale disqualifies. Third, upload every MP3 to the CBDA Digital Audition System and listen to each. The DocuSign email is sent the first time you open the Upload Audio page; complete it. Pay the $55 non-refundable fee by card in your student account, or give your director a check; parents may not mail checks. Fourth, click Check My Progress, then Submit for Director Approval, and tell your director it is ready. Uploading does not complete your audition. Last, your director reviews and submits before the deadline. Your audition is complete only when your status shows "Submitted for Review" or "Submitted for Judging". Piccolo, English horn and E-flat clarinet record extra material at no extra fee.

Jazz is a separate recording. One upload per item, one unedited take, with the accompaniment audible.

High school results are posted mid-November. Junior high results are posted towards the end of November, by email when posted. The FAQ says results are posted online mid-November. If you make it, you must come prepared, attend all rehearsals and stay for the performance, or you may be ineligible for future CBDA All-State. A replacement list is not published. Jazz arrives January 13, 2027; others January 14. All students are housed by CASMEC.

California audition questions, answered

When are CBDA All-State recordings due?: High school recordings closed 9:00 PM October 15, 2026; results post mid-November. Junior high recordings are due 9:00 PM November 2, 2026. Checks must be postmarked November 2, 2026. No time zone is printed.
How do I record and submit my CBDA audition?: Your director creates your 2027 audition record first. You record the MP3s, upload them, complete DocuSign, pay the $55 fee, then click Submit for Director Approval. Your director reviews and submits before the deadline. Your audition is complete only when your status shows Submitted for Review or Submitted for Judging. Uploading does not complete your audition.
Is there sight-reading on the CBDA audition, and how is it judged?: Sight-reading is not listed in the concert-band instructions or the jazz general blocks. Judging is blind. Judges' names, points and a rubric are not published.
When will I find out if I made CBDA All-State?: The instructions say high school results mid-November and junior high towards the end of November, by email when posted. The FAQ says posted online mid-November.
What if I miss a rehearsal after I make CBDA All-State?: Accepted students must come prepared, attend all rehearsals and stay for the performance, or they may be ineligible for future CBDA All-State. A replacement list is not published.