Application &  Audition Process

Auditions in this area are less stringent than those in performance. Students should prepare two contrasting pieces from the classical literature, demonstrating their technical and interpretive abilities in a principal area. Instrumentalists and keyboardists will be asked to play scales as well as sight-read.

It is understood that applicants will come with a variety of experiences, including areas of prior work (songwriting, arranging, performing, engineering), genre and stylistic interests (pop, rock, jazz), and hopes of outcomes. All applicants are expected to demonstrate certain musical skills. Applicants will perform two selections of contrasting style that represent the genre of music that the applicant hopes to study. Instrumentalists will play major and minor scales and sight-read. Applicants with experience in areas such as songwriting, arranging, performance, and recording may wish to present items or a portfolio to the audition panel. Items of interest may include a performance history, a demo CD, song lyrics, and original scores. Students will participate in an interview and complete a music theory assessment.

Students interested in the highly specialized areas of performance or composition must have had considerable prior private study and developed other musical competencies in order to pursue these areas. Such students must prepare an audition according to the following guidelines:

Voice: Two contrasting pieces from the standard repertoire are to be performed from memory: one in English and one in Italian, French, or German.

Keyboard: The following are to be performed from memory:

• All scales and arpeggios (major and minor);
• a Prelude and/or Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier, or two movements from a French Suite or English Suite by J. S. Bach;
• a movement from a sonata by Mozart, Beethoven, or Haydn; and
• a representative composition from the 19th or 20th century repertoire.

Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello: All major and minor scales in three octaves; prepare an etude representing current level of technical development; one movement from J. S. Bach unaccompanied sonatas, partitas or suites; one movement from a standard concerto; two orchestral excerpts.

Bass: All major and minor scales in two octaves; prepare an etude representing current level of technical development; two solo pieces in contrasting style with piano accompaniment; two orchestral excerpts.

Harp: Any major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scale four octaves in 16th notes; an etude from Grossi or Pozzoli; classical era sonata movement or concerto movement; twentieth-century piece; two orchestral excerpts.

Woodwinds and Brass: All major and minor scales; two solo pieces in contrasting style; an etude representing current level of technical ability; two orchestral excerpts.

Percussion: Snare Drum: Etude of choice from Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony Cirone; demonstration of rolls, open and closed.

Keyboard: Suggest performance of J. S. Bach Violin Concerto in A minor (Allegro moderato) as found in Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba, and Vibraphone by Morris Goldenberg; all scales, two octaves. Timpani: Etude of choice from Modern Method for Tympani, by Saul Goodman; demonstration of tuning skills. Accessories: Demonstration of basic techniques on cymbals, bass drum, triangle, and tambourine.

Guitar: All major scales, two octaves, any Carcassi etude, or equivalent solo piece by Guilanni, Sor, Tarrega, or other major composer for classical guitar.

Composition: Perform two contrasting works on an instrument or voice from classical literature. Submit scores of two original works. Interview with the composition faculty.