Celebrating its 34th year, The Minnesota High School Music Listening Contest is an independent not-for-profit competition providing an ideal opportunity to enrich students' experiences with classical, ethnic, and popular music in a fun and competitive environment.  

In this nationwide contest,  students develop skills in active listening and critical analysis by learning to identify composers, cultures, periods and styles. The contest is open to high school students, 9-12th grade, from  public, private, home schools, or music studios. During the fall, students form teams of three; participants receive a study guide and access to the MLC Playlist that contains all the musical selections they will need to compete effectively. All teams participate in regional competitions throughout Minnesota and Utah in January; first- and second-place teams from each region advance to the Championship Competition in February.

Registration fee: $99 per team (three students per team) - includes a study guide in electronic format (pdf), practice test, and subscriptions to Naxos Music Library to access the MLC Playlist. 

Each team receives:
  • Study Guide, written by Chris Jannings, will be in electronic format (PDF)
  • FREE one-year subscription to Naxos Music Library to access the MLC Playlist with entire pieces of the music featured in the Study Guide (downloadable)
  • Practice test (posted in November) to help students prepare for the regional contests

Teams may register via mail (check payment) or online (credit card or PayPal payment).  Study Guides are emailed immediately to registered and paid teams.

NOTE: When registering, coaches are asked to provide the number of teams only; student names are not requested until December.
2020-2021 Dates and Deadlines 
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020
Registration Opens
Friday, Nov. 13, 2020
Registration Closes
Friday, Jan. 15, 2021
Links and Instructions Available
Friday, Jan. 29, 2021
Virtual National Championship
 
Each coach and student participant receives a one-year membership to Naxos Music Library at no extra charge ($300/person value). NML is the most comprehensive collection of classical music available online, with over 2,173,900 tracks plus educational resources that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

The NML hosts our MLC playlist with the pieces from this year's Study Guide. Each selection is the complete work, with no narration or commentary. These tracks may be downloaded for offline listening.

NML access information will be provided upon MLC registration. Visit www.naxosmusiclibrary.com for more information about Naxos Music Library.