Audition Requirements & Repertoire
Applicants are required to submit recording(s) and schedule a live audition or interview. Select programs prescreen applicants to determine if a live audition or interview will be conducted. Auditions are in-person closely following campus Community Health Standards. Program specific audition repertoire, including specific recording or possible prescreening requirements, are listed below.
Auditions are a vital part of the application process. Live auditions and interviews are scheduled after a completed application, application fee, and all required documents have been submitted. Qualifying applicants will be notified and invited to schedule an audition.
On-Campus Audition Dates
|
Instrumental & Composition |
Friday, January 20, 2023 |
|
Voice (Fletcher) |
Sunday, January 8, 2023 |
Applicants unable to travel for an in-person audition or not available on any of the above dates should contact an Admissions Counselor.
Audition Repertoire Requirements
Bassoon
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Three (3) contrasting movements from the repertoire that represent at least 2 major classical time periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary.
- One (1) Concert Study from an etude book, such as the Milde Op. 26, or other equivalent etude that showcases the students lyrical and technical playing.
- A piece composed since 1950, written by a composer who is traditionally underrepresented in the field, either because of gender, identity, race, ethnicity, or who was for other reasons previously excluded from the traditional canon. There are numerous resources with examples of these works, but for suggestions of pieces at different difficulty levels, please contact Dr. Patterson.
- A minimum of four (4) contrasting standard orchestral excerpts.
Piano accompaniment is not required.
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact bassoon professor Stephanie Patterson at pattersons@uncsa.edu.Cello
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- A fast and a slow concerto movement
- A Prelude and two contrasting dance movements from solo Bach
- A showpiece or contemporary work written after 1940
Clarinet
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Three selections that should include but not be limited to a complete sonata or concerto
- A work composed in the last 50 years
- Excerpt from "Quintet for Clarinet & String Quartet" by James Lee III : pg. 1, mm. 6-30 (Email Dr. Espina-Ruiz for the excerpt.)
- Demonstrate the ability to sight-read
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact clarinet professor Oskar Espina-Ruiz at espina-ruizo@uncsa.edu.
Collaborative Piano
All prospective applicants are encouraged to schedule a Zoom or phone meeting with Dr. Allison Gagnon, Chair of Collaborative Piano, early in the application process.
Application Recording:
Please upload a short video recording demonstrating your pianistic and collaborative
skills with repertoire and partner of your choice. This recording should be recent
(within the past year).
Audition Repertoire: For the live audition components, please prepare the following:
- At least two selections with a vocal partner
- At least one selection with an instrumental partner
- One solo piano selection
- Quick study: music provided 24-48 hours in advance to be presented live, with a partner when possible
- Sight reading
Dr. Gagnon will discuss and finalize repertoire selection and partnering arrangements with applicants for all audition components. Do not hesitate to contact her at gagnona@uncsa.edu at any point in the application process.
Composition
The Composition program provides training in the craft and art of music composition, with special emphasis on form, harmony, counterpoint, scoring, technology, innovation and genre crossing.
Prescreening:
- Submit three to four representative scores, with recordings when possible, with your application. Scores should be submitted through your Admissions Portal as part of your overall portfolio.
- Submit a sample of your writing on a musical subject (e.g. an analysis of a composition or a paper on a music history topic). The writing sample should be submitted through your Admissions Portal as part of your overall portfolio.
- Submit a statement of purpose describing your experience, goals and career interests as a professional composer. This statement of purpose, or Artistic Statement, should be submitted through your Admissions Portal.
Interview: Applicants whose submitted scores demonstrate readiness to audition for the Composition program will be invited for an interview with the Composition faculty on scheduled audition dates.
- You should be prepared to discuss your musical background and training, influences, and compositional interests and goals.
- You will not need to audition on an instrument to be considered for the composition program.
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact composition professor Lawrence Dillon at dillonl@uncsa.edu.
Conducting (PAC only)
Requirements and audition/interview details to be available soon.
Contact Dr. Mark Norman with any questions at normanm@uncsa.edu.
Double Bass
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two movements of an unaccompanied cello suite by Johann Sebastian Bach
- One piece demonstrating lyricism
- One piece that displays virtuosic technique
- Three to five standard orchestral excerpts from different composers
- At least two different eras should be represented in your solo selections, and at least twenty minutes of music should be prepared for presentation.
- At least one piece should be a concerto or sonata movement, or a substantial showpiece from the standard double bass repertory.
If you have questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact double bass professor Paul Sharpe at sharpep@uncsa.edu.
Euphonium
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two complete major works for euphonium (Friedrich, Curnow, etc.)
- One Rochut etude of the applicant’s choice
- One characteristic study from Arbans Method of the applicant’s choice
- Five standard band excerpts of your choice.
- All major and minor scales
- Demonstrate the ability to sight-read
Flute
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two movements from a J.S. Bach Sonata
- First movement of a Mozart Concerto with cadenza (G or D).
- Three Standard orchestral Excerpts (as from the Baxtresser book)
- One piece representative of the student’s ability. Suggested repertoire includes Valerie Coleman’s "Danza de La Mariposa" or Marco Granados’ “La Bella y…...” from "Two Venezuelan Etudes"
Substitutions to the listed repertoire are okay. If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact flute professor Dr. Tadeu Coelho at coelhot@uncsa.edu.
A note from Tadeu Coelho, Professor of Flute at UNCSA
Since auditions are online for this audition cycle, I am cognizant of the difficulty and stress you may be experiencing in preparing for the video requirement to submit in your online application. I want you to know that here at UNCSA we are a team. When you join, you are joining a whole team, which will be behind you and supporting you all the way. You should never feel like you are alone here. For this reason, I am available to work with you to prepare for your recording for your online application. I recognize that just preparing and setting up for this recording can be daunting. With that in mind, I invite each flute applicant to contact me directly.
Please remember, you are not alone here at UNCSA. We are a team. I’m waiting to hear from you.
Guitar
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- A 20-30 minute program of contrasting solo concert works performed from memory
- Demonstrated ability to sight-read a variety of textures
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact guitar professor Joseph Pecoraro at pecorj@uncsa.edu.
Harp
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- A 30-minute program of contrasting works, at least one from the Baroque period, one Romantic and one 20th century.
- Four major orchestral excerpts
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact harp professor Jacquelyn Bartlett at bartlettj@uncsa.edu.
Horn
Application Recording:
Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire
of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display
your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- One movement from standard solo repertoire (Mozart, Strauss, etc.)
- One movement or work written in the 20th or 21st century
- Three to five standard orchestral excerpts of your choice.
- Major and minor scales
- Sight-reading
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact horn professor Dr. Maria Serkin at serkinm@uncsa.edu.
Oboe
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Three selections that should include, but not be limited to, a complete sonata or concerto, a 20th century work and a Bach cantata
- Two orchestral excerpts
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact oboe professor Jaren Atherholt at atherholtj@uncsa.edu.
Organ
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Repertoire:
- A major free work by J.S. Bach (including the trio sonatas)
- A composition from the Romantic period
- A composition from the 20th-21st century
- A hymn played as if leading a congregation
- Sight-reading
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact organ professor Timothy Olsen at olsent@uncsa.edu.
Percussion
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
If prospective students do not have access to microphones or recording equipment with volume control, smart phone video recording of percussion instruments should be done at a distance to get the best possible sound. Large rooms, or outdoors work best.
Percussionists who do not have access to timpani, marimba, and a concert snare drum for recording should contact John Beck to discuss their audition program.
Audition Repertoire:
Master’s degree applicants should prepare at least one orchestral excerpt on snare drum, timpani, and xylophone, and should demonstrate proficiency in 4-mallet keyboard performance using standard concert repertoire for the marimba. This may include, but is not limited to, solos by Abe, Musser, Stout, Stevens, Miki, Tanaka, Burritt, Norton, Ford, or other composers who have written for solo marimba.
Suggested audition material for the graduate program includes, but is not limited to the following composers:
- Snare Drum: Cirone, peters (Advanced Etudes), Pratt, Wilcoxen, Firth, Albright, Delecluse, Aleo
- Timpani: Firth, Hochrainer, Goodman, Hinger, Friese/Lepak, Delecluse
- Keyboard: Musser, Bach, Stout, Delecluse, Green
Piano
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- One large work by J.S. Bach
- One complete classical sonata
- One large work from the 19th Century
- One Etude by Chopin, Debussy, Liszt or Rachmaninoff
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact piano professor Dmitri Shteinberg at shteinbergd@uncsa.edu.
Saxophone
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Three selections that should include but not be limited to a complete sonata or concerto
- A work composed in the last fifty years
- Demonstrate the ability to sight-read
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact saxophone professor Robert Young at youngr@uncsa.edu.
Trombone
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
Tenor Trombone:
- Complete movement from a standard concerto for trombone (e.g., Grondahl, Hindemith)
- All major and minor scales
- Two contrasting etudes (i.e. technical and lyrical)
- Three orchestral excerpts: Ravel, Bolero; Mozart, Requiem Tuba Mirum – 2nd part; Berlioz, Hungarian March – 2nd part
- Sight-reading
Bass Trombone-
- Bach, Sarabande from Suite No. 5 for unaccompanied cello.
- Complete movement from a standard concerto for bass trombone (e.g. Ewazen, etc.)
- Two contrasting etudes (i.e. technical and lyrical)
- Major and minor scales
- Three orchestral excerpts: Wagner, Ride; Berlioz, Hungarian March; Kodaly, Hary Janos
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact trombone professor John Ilika at ilikaj@uncsa.edu.
Trumpet
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Audition repertoire is flexible
- Suggested repertoire: Haydn or Hummel Concerto
- One movement of a 20th or 21st century work
- Five to seven standard orchestral excerpts, including piccolo trumpet
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact trumpet professor David Dash at dashd@uncsa.edu.
Tuba
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two complete major works for tuba (Vaughan-Williams, Gregson, Barnes, Wilhelm, etc.)
- Two etudes for tuba, one Rochut/Bordogni and one Bousquet
- Five standard orchestral excerpts of the applicant’s choice.
- All major and minor scales
- Demonstrate the ability to sight-read
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact tuba/euphonium professor Brent Harvey at harveyb@uncsa.edu.
Viola
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two contrasting movements from Bach cello Suites, Violin Sonatas, or Partitas, preferably from memory
- Two movements of a concerto from the standard repertoire
- A major sonata
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact interim viola professor Caeli Smith at smithc@uncsa.edu.
Violin
Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.
Audition Repertoire:
- Two movements of a J.S. Bach solo sonata or partita, preferably from memory
- Two movements of a concerto from the standard repertoire
- A work written after 1940
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact violin faculty members Kevin Lawrence (lawrencek@uncsa.edu), Ida Bieler (bieleri@uncsa.edu) or Janet Orenstein (orensteinj@uncsa.edu) about their respective studios.
Voice
All Graduate voice applicants should review the Fletcher Opera Audition Process for complete application, prescreening, and audition procedures.
If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact Steven LaCosse at lacosses@uncsa.edu.