Music — Performance

Applicants to the School of Music graduate programs in Performance must fulfill the following requirements prior to enrollment:

• A baccalaureate degree or its equivalent in music or music education.
• An audition (by invitation only; see details below).
• Vocal performance applicants must show evidence of completion of two semesters or equivalent of undergraduate Italian and two semesters or equivalent of either undergraduate French or German; show evidence of completion of undergraduate courses in Italian, French, and German diction

Music Audition

Once the application in the Office of Admissions is complete, the Osher School of Music Graduate Studies Committee will review the materials and make a recommendation to the School’s coordinator of graduate studies. The program advisor for the specific performance area (brass, keyboards, percussion, strings, or voice) will contact applicants selected for an audition. Due to the intensive and individualized nature of a graduate program in music, admission in specific areas will be limited.

In addition to a sight-singing exam taken by all students at the time of audition, specific requirements are:

• Organ: perform three major works: one of J. S. Bach and one each from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; sight-read an organ composition at the level of a Rheinberger trio.
• Percussion: Timpani: play either an étude from Solo Timpanist (Vic Firth) or March (Carter); Drum: play an étude from First Twelve Études for Snare Drum (Deleceuse); Mallets: play a four-mallet solo and three orchestral excerpts.
• Piano: perform from memory a major work of J. S. Bach (such as a suite, toccata, or prelude and fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier); a complete sonata by either Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven; a major work from the nineteenth or twentieth century; sight-read a piano composition at the level of a Haydn sonata.
• Strings: perform the first movement (or equivalent) of a standard concerto (with cadenza); perform one movement from a nineteenth or twentieth-century sonata; perform two contrasting movements from an unaccompanied work by Bach. It is recommended that at least one of the three excerpts be memorized. Harp and guitar performers may substitute an advanced étude of their choice for one of the above categories.
• Winds: perform a complete concerto or sonata from the Classical era; perform one composition each from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; perform six standard orchestral excerpts.
• Voice: perform a twenty-minute memorized recital of repertoire from various stylistic periods, including selections in Italian, French, German, and English; play at the piano the following chord progression: I, IV, V, I in all keys up to three sharps and three flats.