Specific audition requirements by area or instruments are listed below. All applicants should be prepared to demonstrate their sight-reading ability on their instrument or voice. A brief aural test will also be given. Please bring an original copy of your music to the audition for the audition committee.
Vocal
Prepare two contrasting pieces with piano accompaniment according to the following guidelines:
- An art song, or an operatic or oratorio aria from memory in Italian (preferably), Latin, German, French, or Spanish. Oratorio arias may be performed with the score.
- A second selection preferably in English. The English piece may be a musical theater selection.
In addition to sight reading, please be prepared to match pitches vocally and to sing a major scale.
Vocal applicants are required to perform their prepared pieces with an accompanist. You may provide your own accompanist, or you may use an accompanist provided by the school at an additional cost.
Jazz Studies
Please prepare the following:
- Two selections in contrasting styles (Blues/Bop, Fusion/Cool, Swing/Early Jazz, etc.)
- Etude or solo transcription
- Major scales
- Improvisation over a blues (if not improvising over prepared selections)
In addition to sight reading, please be prepared to match pitches vocally and to sing a major scale.
All jazz auditions (instrumental and vocal) are required to bring play-a-long as accompaniment.
Winds, Brass, Strings, and Keyboard
Prepare two selections in contrasting styles (slow-fast, Baroque-20th Century, Italian-English, etc.) totaling approximately 10 minutes.
It is strongly recommended for keyboard applicants to memorize their prepared pieces.
In addition to sight reading, please be prepared to match pitches vocally and to sing a major scale.
Undergraduate instrumentalists do not need to perform with an accompanist and the School of Music is unable to provide one.
Percussion
The solos and books listed below are suggestions; you should select literature for your audition that best demonstrates your current ability:
Snare Drum: one solo from
- Cirone Portraits in Rhythm, OR
- Podemski: Standard Snare Drum Methods, OR
- Peters – Intermediate or Advanced snare drum method, OR
Marimba one 4-mallet solo: select one solo
- Keiko Abe, any solo, OR
- Musser, any etude, OR
- Mitch Peters, Yellow After the Rain, or similar solo, OR
- Sammut – Rotations for Marimba, OR
- J.S. Bach – selection from Sonatas and partitas for solo marimba
A two-mallet solo is optional, but recommended
Timpani, any etude from:
- Goodman, Modern Method for Timpani
- Carroll – exercises etudes and solos for timpani
- Carter – a selection from 8 solos for timpani
Sight-reading will be a part of all auditions
Contact Jonathan Bisesi or John Spirtas for additional information.
Composition
Your audition will consist of two parts:
- A portfolio review/interview with a faculty member and
- a performance audition on your primary instrument/voice.
When registering, please submit a portfolio of 3-4 works that best represent your experience and skills. For the performance portion of the audition, please prepare two selections in contrasting styles or genres totaling approximately 7-10 minutes on your primary instrument/voice. In addition to sight reading, please be prepared to match pitches vocally and to sing a major scale.
Music Technology
Your audition will consist of two parts:
- A portfolio review/interview with a faculty member and
- a performance audition on your primary instrument/voice.
When registering, please submit a portfolio of 3-5 works that best represent your experience and skills using music technology. In the description for each work please detail your involvement with the project (e.g. composer, mixing engineer, programmer, etc.). This can include projects on GarageBand, Logic Pro, Protools, FL Studio, Reaper, etc. Please submit high-quality recordings/videos or links to external sites such as YouTube and SoundCloud.
For the performance portion of the audition, please prepare two selections in contrasting styles or genres totaling approximately 7-10 minutes on your primary instrument/voice.
In addition to sight reading, please be prepared to match pitches vocally and to sing a major scale.