Overview

The MTNA National Competitions are open to students, aged 5-26. This three-tiered competition begins with state competitions. 1st-Place winners of the MTNA Hawaiʻi Competition will advance to a video-only Southwest Division Competition. Finally, Division winners compete in the national finals at the annual MTNA National Conference. The 2026 National Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois from March 21-25.

About the Hawai’i State Competitions

The 2025-2026 State Competitions will be held in person on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For detailed eligibility and level information, please click or tap HERE.

***Entrants in the 2025-2026 MTNA Competition are NOT eligible for the 2025 Hawaiʻi State Music Competition.***

categories & Levels

Categories

  • Composition

  • Brass (Senior and Young Artist only)

  • Piano

  • Piano Duet (Senior only)

  • String

  • Voice (Senior and Young Artist only)

  • Woodwind

  • Chamber Music

Levels

  • Elementary (ages 5-10; Composition ONLY)

  • Junior (ages 11-14)

  • Senior (ages 15-18)

  • Young Artist (ages 19-26)

performance competition Dates

  1. Registration for performance will open on August 4, 2025.

  2. Registration deadline for all levels of the Performance Competition (not including Brass and Voice) is Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. There will be no exceptions.

  3. Hawaiʻi State competition results for the Solo and Duet competitions will be announced on the HMTA website by the end of Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

  4. For competition information and guidelines, please visit: https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/engage/competitions/performance_guidelines.aspx

Performance (Brass and VoicE) competition Dates

  1. Registrations for Brass and Voice, will open on November 1, 2025.

  2. Deadline for Brass and Voice registration and video submissions to Acceptd is Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. There will be no exceptions.

  3. For Brass and Voice competition information and guidelines, please visit:
    https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/Engage/Competitions/Brass-Voice.aspx

Composition competition dates

  1. Registration for composition will open on August 4, 2025.

  2. Registration deadline for all levels of the Composition Competition is Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. There will be no exceptions.

  3. State competition results for Composition will be announced by the end of Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

  4. For competition information and guidelines, please visit: https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/engage/competitions/Composition_Guidelines.aspx

Chamber Music competition Dates

  1. Registrations for Chamber Music will open on November 1, 2025.

  2. Deadline for Chamber Music registration and video submissions to Acceptd is Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. There will be no exceptions.

  3. For competition information and guidelines, please visit: https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/Engage/Competitions/Chamber_Music.aspx