Colorado ASTA CAP
What is Colorado ASTA CAP? Since 2007, the Colorado Chapter of the American String Teachers Association has sponsored the Certificate Advancement Program for Strings serving private teachers and their students from Colorado Springs to Laramie and as far west as Durango. Students who participate in Colorado ASTACAP have the opportunity to perform a prepared program fulfilling National ASTA requirements, for a carefully selected evaluator for scoring and comments. In addition, they will receive both a mini lesson after their performance and a beautiful certificate from National ASTA commemorating their learning experience. This Certification is available for students of any age, including college level and adult, for Levels Foundation – 10.
2026 Events
Saturday, March 14, 2026
East United Methodist Church, Colorado Springs, CO
1505 E Monument St, Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Application Deadline, February 3, 2026
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Metropolitan State University of Denver, King Center
855 Lawrence Way, Denver, CO 80204
Application Deadline, March 3, 2026
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Fort Lewis College
Durango, CO
Application Deadline, March 3, 2026
Saturday, May 2, 2026
Rocky Mountain High School
Fort Collins, CO
Application Deadline, March 3, 2026
Some comments from past Colorado ASTACAP participants:
“I practiced like I never practiced before” ~ Student
“ASTACAP has breathed new life into and given direction to my studio” ~ Teacher
“It was like Solo and Ensemble on steroids” ~Teacher
“The evaluators were really nice” ~ Student
“I really appreciated the rigor required of my students” ~ Teacher
“When I got to college, juries were no big deal to me because I had been doing something similar all along!” ~ Student
WHY SHOULD MY STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN COLORADO ASTACAP?
♪ Documented achievement, building from year to year
♪ Positive learning environment
♪ Every performing experience adds to skill and confidence
♪ Written standards
♪ Incentive to work on musical and technical skills throughout the year
♪ Feedback from highly qualified evaluators
♪ Beautiful Certificates awarded
♪ For students thinking of a career in music, something that will get noticed on an application and help prepare for future auditions and performance exams
WHY SHOULD TEACHERS PARTICIPATE IN CCAP?
♬ Repertoire flexibility
♬ Handbook full of teaching ideas available on the ASTA web site
♬ Yearly feedback from highly qualified colleagues
♬ Student motivation will skyrocket
♬ The exam gives relevance to the students for playing scales, etudes and pieces, plus sight reading (sightreading is only required in Levels 2-10). Students who have participated over the years have thought it was a positive experience, each year building on the previous ones.
HOW CAN I GET MY STUDENTS INVOLVED?
Be sure you, the teacher, are a member of the American String Teachers’ Association
Find all performance requirements and detailed standards, on the National ASTA website https://www.astastrings.org/site/astacap
Register each student on the Colorado ASTA website https://www.colo-asta.org/ccap (Registrations are open January 1 – March 3, 2026). Soon after your students are registered, you will receive specific performance and scheduling information.
Start preparing your students now! Especially the higher levels can be rigorous and might take more time to prepare!