Audition Requirements & Repertoire

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 (2) contrasting movements from concertos, sonatas or solo works for bassoon (not necessarily movements from the same work)
  • It is strongly recommended that at least one (1) movement be from a piece written since 1950, from a composer who is traditionally underrepresented in the field, either because of gender, identity, race, or 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.
• One etude that showcases the student’s technical and lyrical ability (from Milde Op. 26 or similar book)

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. 

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 fast movement of a standard concerto
• A Prelude and one contrasting dance movement from solo Bach
• One Popper or Piatti etude

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact cello professor Brooks Whitehouse at whitehouseb@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 or three selections (including movements from sonatas and concertos)
• Excerpt from "Quintet for Clarinet & String Quartet" by James Lee III : pg. 1, mm. 6-30 (Email Dr. Espina-Ruiz for the excerpt.)
• Major and minor scales
• Compositions should demonstrate your ability in phrasing, sustained playing and facility.

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact clarinet professor Oskar Espina-Ruiz at espina-ruizo@uncsa.edu.

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.

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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 works: one demonstrating lyricism, and another demonstrating more virtuosic technique
• Examples of suitable repertoire for the audition would be the fast and slow movements from a standard concerto (Cimador, Dragonetti, Dittersdorf, Bottesini, Vanhal, Hoffmeister, etc.); unaccompanied Bach; and/or movements from a Baroque sonata by Marcello, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Handel, Pergolesi, or Corelli.
• Not required, but preferred: two or three standard orchestral excerpts.
• A minimum of ten minutes of music should be prepared for the audition.

If you have questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact double bass professor Paul Sharpe at sharpep@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 sections from a standard solo (Curnow, DeLuca, etc.)
• One etude from Rochut Melodious etudes
• Two standard band excerpts of your choice
• All major scales

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact tuba/euphonium professor Brent Harvey at harveyb@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 of a J.S. Bach Sonata
• Exposition of the First movement of a Mozart Concerto (G or D)
• 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"
• Two Standard Orchestral Excerpts (as from the Baxtresser book)

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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 (or more) contrasting selections, ideally performed from memory, which demonstrate the range of your artistic ability*
• Several open or moveable position scales (two or three octaves)
• Your ability to sight-read standard notation and lead sheets will also be evaluated

*We accept guitar applicants with a variety of backgrounds and training experiences. Auditions can show the full range of playing abilities in the applicant’s skill set. These can include performances on Nylon, Steel String and Electric guitars. In addition to at least two selections performed as instrumental solos, repertoire can include performing improvised melodic and chordal material (including with a backing track) as well as accompanying the players own voice.

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact guitar professor Joseph Pecoraro at pecorj@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally a minimum of ten minutes in length with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.

Audition Repertoire:

From memory, three solos of contrasting nature. These must demonstrate the technical and musical level attained thus far.

• one from the Baroque period
• one from the Romantic period
• one from the 20th century

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact harp professor Jacquelyn Bartlett at bartlettj@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 works or movements from standard repertoire (Mozart, Strauss, etc.)
• Two 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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.

Audition Repertoire:

• Two contrasting movements from a sonata or concerto (can be from different works)
• One Barret or Ferling etude
• Major and minor scales

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact oboe professor Jaren Atherholt at atherholtj@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length. We recommend a selection from the list of audition repertoire requirements below. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.

Audition Repertoire:

• Three contrasting works/movements from different stylistic periods
• 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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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:

• Etudes or solos (grade 5 or above) on the following: Snare drum (rudimental and orchestral), timpani (2, 3, or 4 drums) and 2-mallet keyboard solo (marimba, vibes, or xylophone)
• Demonstration of 4-mallet technique either through solo literature or at a minimum, chords and arpeggios
• A multiple percussion solo may replace the snare drum solos
• Sight-reading, timpani tuning, scales, and rudiments will be part of the audition
• Drum set is optional and is not required for acceptance, but is the fourth major area of study in the undergraduate program

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact percussion professor John Beck at beckj@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach
• One Complete Classical Sonata
• One 19th Century piece

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact piano professor Dmitri Shteinberg at shteinbergd@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 or three selections (including movements from sonatas and concertos)
• Major and minor scales
• Compositions should demonstrate your ability in phrasing, sustained playing, and facility

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact saxophone professor Robert Young at youngr@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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

• One complete movement from a standard concerto for trombone (e.g., Grondahl, Hindemith)
• Two etudes of contrasting style (i.e., technical and lyrical)
• Major and minor scales
• Sight-reading

Bass Trombone

• One complete movement from a standard concerto for bass trombone (e.g., Ewazen, Lebedev)
• Two etudes of contrasting style (i.e., technical and lyrical)
• Major and minor scales
• Sight-reading

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact trombone professor John Ilika at ilikaj@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your playing in a solo environment.

Audition Repertoire:

• Suggested repertoire: one complete solo trumpet work from standard literature (ex. Arutunian) or one movement from a sonata or concerto, and one contrasting etude of choice.
• Audition repertoire is flexible
• Display proficiency in all major and minor scales
• Demonstrate the ability to sight-read

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact trumpet professor David Dash at dashd@uncsa.edu.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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 sections from a standard solo (Hindemith, Lebedev, Broughton, etc.)
• One etude from a standard method for tuba (Blazhevich, Rochut, Vasiliev, etc.)
• Two standard orchestral excerpts of your choice
• All major 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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length 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
• One major movement of a concerto from the standard repertoire
• An additional work of your choice
• You may be asked to demonstrate ability to sight-read

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact interim viola professor Caeli Smith at smithc@uncsa.edu. 

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your playing abilities. This recording can be as short as five minutes in length with repertoire of your choice, should be recent (within the past year), and display your playing in a solo environment.

Audition Repertoire:

• One movement of a Bach solo sonata or partita, preferably from memory
• One major movement of a concerto from the standard repertoire
• An additional work of your choice
• You may be asked to demonstrate ability to sight-read

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.

Application Recording: Please upload a brief video recording demonstrating your singing abilities, ideally around five minutes in length with repertoire of your choice. This recording should be recent (within the past year) and display your singing in a solo environment. Your recordings should include live piano accompaniment if possible, but pre-recorded accompaniment is acceptable. Recordings should be unedited with no sound or room ambience enhancements.

Audition Repertoire:

Be prepared to sing three selections of varying styles and tempi. Selections should be chosen from any combination of the categories below. It is not necessary to fulfill each of the categories, but two of your selections must be classical.

• Classical Art Song (such as Schubert, Barber, the 24, 26, 28 Italian Songs and Arias, etc.)
• Published, accompanied folksong for solo voice arranged by a classical composer (such as John Jacob Niles, Kenneth Frazelle, Aaron Copland, Ben Moore, etc.)
• Arias approved in advance by UNCSA Voice Department (email taylorm@uncsa.edu)
• A Legit (lyric, non-belt) Musical Theatre selection. These should be songs often sung by a classically trained voice.

The following criteria should be met for ALL selections:

• All songs should be published and include a composed piano accompaniment.
• All selections must be memorized.
• At least one selection should be in English.
• At least one classical selection must be in a foreign language.

Not acceptable selections:

• Popular music selections normally sung with microphone
• A cappella selections; exceptions can be made for published unaccompanied classical pieces, such as “The Singer” by Michael Head
• Excerpts from within a choral arrangement
• Pre-recorded accompaniments

In addition to singing your chosen selections, you may be asked to sight-read.

If you have any questions about the audition process or requirements, please contact the Department Chair, Dr. Marilyn Taylor at taylorm@uncsa.edu, Glenn Siebert at siebertg@uncsa.edu, or Phyllis Pancella at pancellap@uncsa.edu.