A wide variety of performance opportunities await our students each year, with orchestras, bands, choirs and opera, jazz nonets and combos, small ensembles, and more.
A variety of programs and initiatives operate continuously or annually to enhance learning experiences and help students prepare for their future in music.
The MSU College of Music supports and challenges students, values innovation and creativity, and helps every community member achieve professional excellence.
The MSU College of Music Ensemble Audition instructions collected here provide essential information for students about auditioning for various music ensembles. Instructions detail procedures, schedules, excerpts, and contact information for bands, orchestras, Musique 21, jazz, and choral ensembles. If, after reviewing the information below, you have questions, contact the appropriate faculty member.
Audition and Rehearsal schedules here
WIND AND PERCUSSION: The audition for ensembles for winds and percussion will be held jointly between orchestra and bands. There will be ensemble choice sheets available when registering for the audition. Based on the audition results we will try to accommodate ensemble choices although final placement will be determined by the conductors and studio faculty. The Fall audition will be a behind screen audition.
STRING MAJORS (Symphony Orchestra): All string auditions will be held on Saturday, August 24th in Eichler rehearsal room, (room A140) at the Billman Music Pavilion, College of Music. Seating and placement will be made based on the audition results. Each cycle, students will be placed in Symphony Orchestra, Opera Pit, or M21 ensembles on a rotation system. Auditions will be a behind screen audition. All participants will prepare an excerpt from a solo/concerto (2 minutes maximum) from a work of choice in addition to ALL required orchestral excerpts. All excerpts are accessible through recordings. The performer should listen to a variety of recordings of each excerpt and make a judgment on tempo based on those recordings. String will NOT re-audition in the Spring, it is very important you prepare the Fall audition very well.
CONCERT ORCHESTRA (NON-Music Majors): Auditions for ALL instruments (strings, brass, winds, percussion) for Concert Orchestra will be held on Sunday, August 25th in Eichler rehearsal room (room A140) at the Billman Music Pavilion, College of Music. Auditions will not be blind. All participants will prepare two excerpts from a solo/concerto (total 5 minutes maximum) from a work of your choice, showing contrasting styles. In addition, participants should prepare a scale of choice (3 octaves for strings, 2 octaves for brass and winds.)
MUSIQUE 21 is an assigned ensemble. If you make the SO/WS pool you may be assigned to play Musique 21 for one concert during the semester. This will take the place of the orchestra or wind symphony rotation for that particular cycle. Musique 21 will meet during the M, W 12:30-2:50, F 12:30-1:30 OR T, TH 12:30-2:50, F- 1:50-2:50 rehearsal slot depending on who is conducting.
Please follow the appropriate Google doc link, provide the necessary information, and select an audition time:
Wind and Percussion: https://bit.ly/3UAaHL4
Strings/Harp: http://bit.ly/3Rqw9Bf
Concert Orchestra: https://bit.ly/4b0tB3R
You must use an MSU email account. If for some reason you cannot audition during your instrument’s designated time slot you must call the ensemble office to make other arrangements: 517-355-7654.
All auditions (instrumentalists and vocalists) will be in person, “behind-the-screen,” and scheduled as follows:
Friday, August 23, 2024
09:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Murray Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
01:30 p.m. – 05:00 p.m., Eichler Rehearsal Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
Saturday, August 24, 2024
09:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Murray Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
01:30 p.m. – 05:00 p.m., Murray Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
Sunday, August 25, 2024
09:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Murray Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
01:30 p.m. – 07:00 p.m., Murray Hall, Billman Music Pavilion
All students who auditioned will be informed of their ensemble(s) placement on Monday, August 26, 2024, during the Jazz Studies Area Annual Convocation at 9:30 p.m.
VOCALISTS REQUIREMENTS
Note: Vocalists must provide own accompanist (piano, guitar or backing track)
Part I: Sing Honeysuckle Rose (in the students’ appropriate key)
Part II: Sing Travelin’ Blues
Part III: Perform a selection of your choosing
Vocal auditions will be held for Jazz applied vocal lessons and/or ensembles.
The following audition instructions and materials are for instrumentalists, including guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, piano trombone, bass trombone, and trumpet.
Part I: Perform excerpt, “Evidence,” Composed by Thelonious Monk/Arranged by John Clayton
“Evidence” excerpts:
Part II: Perform “Tricotism,” Composed by Lucky Thompson & Oscar Pettiford (in Db concert) with provided backing track
Four (4) choruses total:
“Tricotism” backing tracks/excerpts:
Part III: Perform a selection of your choosing
You’ve found the choral ensemble page! There is a choir for you to sing in, regardless of your major. Please find information below for our auditioned and non-auditioned ensembles. If you sang in high school and need a choir family, here are pertinent details.
Questions: email Dr. Sandra Snow, director of choral programs.
Auditions for University Chorale are Thursday-Saturday, August 22-25 in Room 211, Music Practice Building. All returning students, new transfer students who are undergraduate vocal music majors, and new master’s students in vocal performance must audition in this timeframe. Other music majors with a large ensemble requirement must also do these auditions.
Go here to sign up for an audition time.
Please fill out this University Chorale information form prior to your audition.
In preparation for your audition, be prepared to vocalize and learn this excerpt. As you prepare the excerpt, please demonstrate your best musicianship in addition to vocal accuracy.
MUS 127: MTWTh, 1:50-2:40 p.m.; Hollander Hall, Music Building; 32 members; highly selective; excellent vocalism and musicianship; graduates and upper-level undergraduates. Participation is expected both fall and spring terms unless student teaching or until large ensemble degree requirements are met. Historical and contemporary choral repertoire. Performances on and off campus each semester. Dr. Sandra Snow, conductor.
Auditions for State Singers are Thursday-Sunday, August 22-25 in Room 210, Music Practice Building. Freshman vocal music majors and all non-music majors interested in an auditioned mixed ensemble must do this audition.
Go here to sign up for an audition time.
Please fill out this State Singers information form prior to your audition.
No prepared excerpt or solo is required for this audition. The audition will include vocalization, range-testing, pitch memory, and a short sight-reading example.
MUS 126: MTWTh, 12:40-1:30; Hollander Hall, Music Building; 50+ members; selective; primarily undergraduate music majors and non-majors. Historical and contemporary choral repertoire; two performances on-campus each semester. Drs. Derrick Fox and Jonathan Reed, conductors.
Auditions for Mosaic will take place on the first day of class, Monday, August 26 from 4:00-5:30 in Hollander Hall, Music Building. Those who audition for University Chorale or State Singers need not audition but need to fill out the Google form below to indicate intent to participate in advance of the first rehearsal. Returning non-majors must audition as well as new or transfer students.
Please fill out this Mosaic information form prior to your audition or if you are a returning music major.
Returning non-majors/new students/transfers:
In preparation for your audition, please learn this unison song. Be prepared to demonstrate your ability to learn the song and demonstrate your singing voice. You will also be asked to vocalize and sight-read.
Rehearsals begin Wednesday, August 28, 4:10-5:30 p.m. in Hollander Hall, Music Building.
Singers in Mosaic who are vocal music majors MUST also sing in either Chorale or State Singers, as assigned. Vocal majors singing in Chorale or State Singers are not required to enroll in Mosaic for credit as a second ensemble.
MUS 125:003: Mosaic; MW, 4:10-5:30 p.m., Hollander Hall, Music Building; 24-32 members; selective. Choral repertoire for soprano/alto voices, with a focus on contemporary treble choral literature. On-campus performances each semester, possible off-campus performances. Dr. Sandra Snow, conductor.
Come to audition/interview in Room 147, Communication Arts Building at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 4. Rehearsal immediately follows auditions at 7:00 p.m. Be prepared to vocalize and sing the first verse of America, the Beautiful. Contact Dr. Jonathan Reed with questions or to arrange a different audition day.
Find music for America, the Beautiful here.
2024 Fall major works: Gloria by Poulenc, Messiah Choruses by Handel
2025 Spring major works: Belshazzar’s Feast by Walton, Schicksalslied by Brahms
Please complete this Choral Union information form prior to your audition.
MUS 124: Choral Union; W, 7:00-9:00 p.m.; Comm Arts & Sciences Bldg., Rm #147; 100 members; mostly adults of the greater Lansing community and campus faculty/staff; brief audition/interview required. Major choral-orchestral works; one or two performances on-campus each semester; Dr. Jonathan Reed, conductor.
No audition required! Vocal placements (what part you sing) will take place during the first class.
These ensembles are open to all students in any degree program. Rehearsals and performances of a broad range of choral repertoire each semester. Bring a friend!
MUS 123-001: T/Th 3:00-3:50 p.m., Large Rehearsal Room, Billman Music Pavilion. Dr. Stuart Hill, conductor.
MUS 125-001: T/TH 4:10-5:30 p.m., Eichler Hall, Billman Music Pavilion. Mariana Romero-Serra, conductor.
MUS 125-002: M/W 4:10-5:30 p.m., Eichler Hall, Billman Music Pavilion. Dr. Jonathan Reed, conductor.