Jordan College of Fine Arts
School of Music

Audition Requirements

Choir

Music Audition Requirements - Undergraduate

(See the Graduate Policies page for graduate audition requirements.)

Brass and Woodwinds

Be prepared to play:

  • One movement or etude at a faster tempo displaying rhythmic and technical skills
  • One movement or etude at a slower tempo displaying lyrical playing (may be movements or large sections from the same work)
  • All major scales and a full range chromatic scale from memory, tongued and slurred (prepare all; committee will ask for specific scales)
  • Sight reading

Each audition is scheduled for 20 minutes and includes an interview.

Composition

Be prepared for both a 30 minute interview with the composition faculty and an audition with the instrumental faculty. Bring three to six scores of your original work; recordings of these pieces are recommended but not required.

Percussion

Be prepared to play the following:

  • Snare drum solo (concert or rudimental)
  • Mallet keyboard solo (two or four mallets)
  • Timpani solo

Other possibilities, such as drum set or multi-percussion, are optional. Each audition is scheduled for 30 minutes and includes an interview.

Piano

All works must be memorized. Sight reading will be part of the audition.

For Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy degrees:

  • A contrapuntal work by J.S. Bach with a minimum of three voices, such as a Prelude and Fugue or a Sinfonia
  • A sonata-allegro movement from a classical sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert
  • One substantial composition from the Romantic period OR a substantial composition by a 20th or 21st-century composer. Substantial single movements from larger works are acceptable.

For BA, Arts Admin, Composition, and Music Ed degrees:

  • Two contrasting works demonstrating different style periods, textures, and characters, totaling a minimum of 12 minutes of music.

 Each audition is scheduled for 20 minutes and includes an interview.

Strings

Be prepared to play:

  • Two contrasting pieces or movements; the pieces chosen do not have to be memorized.
  • Sight reading will be a part of all auditions.
  • Scales and accompaniment are not required.

Each audition is scheduled for 20 minutes and includes an interview.

Voice

Be prepared to sing two songs from classical and/or traditional musical theatre repertoire. Your selections should be of contrasting style and most representative of your ability and training.

  • Memorization is required.
  • An accompanist is provided for all vocal auditions but is not available for warm up. Place copies of your music in a ringed binder.
  • Be prepared for sight reading. Each audition is scheduled for 15 minutes and includes an interview.
  • Audition CDs are accepted by the voice faculty only if there are extenuating circumstances.

Jazz Studies

In addition to the general audition (see above), Jazz Studies prospects must complete a supplemental 15 minute audition with the following:

  • Medium tempo blues (Billie's Bounce, Tenor Madness, Sandu, etc.)
  • Up-tempo standard jazz tune (Oleo, All the Things You Are, What is This Thing Called Love?, etc.)
  • Latin, rock, or funk tune (Blue Bossa, Recorda Me, Watermelon Man, etc.)
  • Ballad (Misty, Body and Soul, etc.)

Horn players, pianists, guitarists, vocalists, and bassists will play/sing the melody and improvise. Bassists will play bass lines. Guitarists and pianists will comp for a soloist. Drummers will demonstrate the various styles associated with the tunes.