General Information on Undergraduate Audition Requirements is below. Please note that you must apply for admission before being granted an audition. Auditions are scheduled after receipt of your Audition Request Form (available online through the Admissions website), the pre-screening CD, and your nonrefundable $54 audition fee.
Once your audition materials are received they will be evaluated by the Conservatory of Music faculty. If you are selected for a live audition you will be notified of your audition date and time via e-mail. Please be sure to give us a viable email account, and check it regularly.
Please note that only students selected for a live audition will be eligible for admission into the Conservatory of Music. Students who are not selected for a live audition will be denied at the pre-screening stage.
On live audition day:
The faculty listening to your audition will represent your area of study. They may choose not to hear all the music you have prepared. Do not interpret this negatively: time limitations prohibit the faculty from listening to each applicant’s entire audition repertoire.
Plan to arrive at the Conservatory one hour before your scheduled audition time. There are plenty of warm-up rooms for you to prepare yourself both mentally and physically. Wear neat and comfortable clothing that projects your seriousness and desire to study music on a professional level.
Also, please bring a typed repertoire list and a typed list of the pieces you intend to play. Though not requried, we encourage you to bring additional materials, such as Resume, letters of recommendation, and unofficial transcripts. (Note: Accompanists are only provided for Voice/ Opera Studies auditions; all other applicants are encouraged to bring their own, but accompaniment is not required.)
Question-and-answer sessions will be held throughout the day. Specific times for these sessions will be available at check in. These sessions will be followed by a campus tour. All applicants, their families, and guests are welcome to attend. No reservations required.
After the audition, you are free to go; there are no placement tests given on audition day.
If your audition is successful you will be notified on or around April 1. If you are offered admission, you will need to accept our offer of admission in writing, and you will be asked to submit an enrollment deposit by May 1.
Audition requirements
- Strings (classical): Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass
- Jazz Studies
- Harp
Piano- Classical Guitar
- Woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon)
- Brass (horn, tenor trombone, bass trombone, trumpet, tuba)
- Percussion
- Composition
- Studio Composition
Studio Production- Voice (classical)
- Jazz Studies
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- One movement of a concerto from the standard repertory.
- One movement from the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas.
- A third contrasting work of your choice (can be an étude, a contemporary work, a showpiece, or a movement of a sonata).
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- One movement of a Suite for Unaccompanied Cello by J.S. Bach.
- Two contrasting movements from a concerto or sonata from a period other than the Baroque.
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- One movement of a concerto from the standard repertory.
- One movement from the Bach Unaccompanied Suites.
- A third contrasting work of your choice (can be an étude, a contemporary work, a showpiece, or a movement of a sonata).
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- Two-octave scales and arpeggios.
- A solo of your choice.
- Recommended but not required for the pre-screening audition: One or two contrasting orchestral excerpts.
1- Recorded audition: You must send your recording (on CD only) to the Conservatory of Music, along with your Audition Request Form and $54 audition fee, no later than October 15 for Spring 2009 admission, or January 9, 2009 for Fall 2009 Admission. CDs should not exceed 10 minutes in length.
- All applicants, except for drummers, should perform two contrasting jazz standards, preferably with rhythm section or play-along record. Play the melody and an improvised solo.
- Acoustic Bassists should include one chorus of walking bass lines in addition to the melody and improvised solo. (Note: a major concentration in electric bass guitar is not offered. Please audition on acoustic bass only.)
- Guitarists should include one chorus of comping in addition to the melody and improvised solo.
- Drummers should perform a ballad with brushes, a medium swing tune, and an up-tempo swing tune in the context of a trio or a small jazz combo. Please trade fours, eights, or choruses on either the medium or up-tempo swing tune.
- Voice: No longer offered to new applicants
2- Live audition: Only those applicants who pass the recorded audition will be invited to a live audition. A live audition is highly advisable. In the event that an applicant cannot attend a live audition, all future decisions will be based solely on the previously submitted CD.
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- One Pozzoli étude.
- Two contrasting works or movements from the standard harp repertoire.
- Sight-reading.
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all five pieces.
- A prelude and fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier or another work of Bach containing a fugue.
- One movement of a sonata by Beethoven (excluding Op. 49 and Op. 79), Schubert, or Mozart.
- A composition by a 19th-century composer.
- A representative etude by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmanioff or Debussy.
- A composition by a representative 20th-century composer.
PLEASE NOTE: All compositions must be performed from memory.
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the classical guitar repertoire. Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- Three works of contrasting style (Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, and/or contemporary) from the classical guitar repertoire.
- Sight-reading.
Woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon)
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all pieces.
- Two contrasting movements from a major concerto in the standard repertoire.
- Two contrasting etudes showing the applicants level of technical and lyrical abilities
- Two excerpts from the orchestral repertoire.
Brass (horn, tenor trombone; bass trombone, trumpet; audition on Bb trumpet only; tuba: audition on Eb, CC, or BBb only).
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all pieces.
- All major and minor scales and arpeggios.
- Two contrasting studies.
- A significant composition chosen from the concerto or recital repertoire.
- Sight reading taken from standard orchestral repertoire.
Pre-screening audition: please select two pieces in contrasting styles from the list below. Live audition: please prepare all pieces.
- Snare drum: One etude from Citrone "Portraits in Rhythm" or Delecluse "12 Etudes" or equivalent demonstrating technical skills. Knowledge of rudiments. Sight- reading.
- Mallet instruments: a two-mallet solo of your choice. Knowlege of scales and arpeggios. Optional four-mallet solo of your choice. Sight-reading.
- Timpani: One étude from Goodman, "Modern Method for Timpani" or Firth, "The Solo Timpanist" or equivalent demonstrating technical skills. Tuning. Sight-reading.
Pre-screening audition: please submit two pieces in contrasting styles.
Live audition: please prepare all pieces.
- Applicants should present three original works notated conventionally, if appropriate, and recorded or performed live (no MIDI, please).
- The composition interview/ live audition entails a brief ear training exam (interval recognition, chords, pitch matching, and scales), a discussion on general theoretical and/or historical topics and a demonstration of basic instrument proficiency. Students must prepare one short work on his/her solo instrument of choice.
Pre-screening audition: please submit two pieces in contrasting styles.
Live audition: please prepare all three pieces.
- Three original works, either recorded on disk, or notated conventionally and performed live.
- Applicants are expected to have basic music theory skills, including sight reading and the ability to hear and sing back intervals and chords.
- Interview with the studio composition faculty.
Applicants must follow the procedure outlined below:
1- Recorded Audition (on CD): Submit your preferred live audition date request through MyPurchase and mail your pre-screening recording and non-refundable $54 audition fee check made payable to Purchase College, Conservatory of Music by no later than October 15 for Spring admission, or January 9 for Fall admission.
- Submit a CD containing three selections equaling not more than 15 minutes of music. CD must display applicant’s skill and ability in mic placement, instrument recording, vocal recording, sound processing and mixing. CD must also display applicant’s musical esthetics as a producer. CD must be engineered and produced by the applicant. Selections do not have to be original compositions. Any recording format may be used.
- Submit a chart detailing all aspects of each production including room size (if applicable), mics utilized, processing utilized, recording device utilized and any other pertinent data.
- Submit a typed resume with educational background including training in production, engineering, music theory and instrument instruction, if any. Resume must also include experience in the field, if any.
- Submit a typed cover letter stating why applicant would like to attend Purchase College for Studio Production as well as applicant’s career goals.
2- Live Interviews/Audition Results: Pending review of above materials by the Studio Production faculty, applicants will be notified in writing as to whether or not a live interview is requested. If so, applicant will receive further testing in studio production, studio engineering, and music theory. Only those who are called in for a live interview will be considered for admission.
Voice (classical)
Applicants must follow the procedure outlined below:
- Recorded audition (on CD, cassette or videocassette or DVD): Your recording must be sent to the Conservatory of Music, along with your Audition Request Form and $54 audition fee, no later than October 15 for Spring admission, or January 9 for Fall admission.. Recordings should not exceed 15 minutes in length and should include the following songs which should be in contrasting styles. One must be from the 20th-century repertoire:
- One Italian art song.
- One German or French art song.
- One song in English (not a translation
- Live Audition: Only those applicants who pass the recorded audition will be invited to a live audition. A live audition is highly advisable. In the event that an applicant cannot attend a live audition, all future decisions will be based solely on the recorded audition.
- The applicant should prepare the same pieces that were submitted on the recording.
- An accompanist will be provided; however, applicants are welcome to bring their own. Please bring legible, well-organized music for the accompanist.