Skip to main content
Giving & Alumni
College of Music
Giving & Alumni
College of Music
Admissions

Collaborative Piano Audition Material

Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano

Applicants are required to submit a prescreening recording by Dec 1 (video required).

Upload the videos to the Digital Portfolio section of the College of Music Supplemental Application. You will be given access to the Digital Portfolio after the College of Music Supplemental Application is submitted. If video is not possible, please write the College of Music Admissions Office to request an exception. Recordings will be reviewed by a committee from the piano area beginning the week following the December 1st deadline. You will be notified via email as to whether or not you have been invited for a live audition. The recording quality must be sufficient to make a reasonable judgment of ability and should contain one composition from solo repertoire as well as a major composition from collaborative piano repertoire.

Live audition (for those invited):

  • Solo Repertoire
    • One memorized major solo work by applicant’s choice
  • Instrumental repertoire (choose one instrumental sonata from each group)
    • Group I:
      • Beethoven Sonata for cello and piano in A major, Op. 69
      • Beethoven Sonata for violin and piano in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2
      • Mozart Sonata for violin and piano in B flat major, K. 454
    • Group II:
      • Franck Sonata for violin and piano
      • Brahms Sonata for violin and piano in D minor, Op. 108
      • Brahms Sonata for viola/clarinet and piano in f minor, Op. 120. No. 1
  • Vocal Repertoire (Please prepare both songs in original keys)
    • R. Strauss: Ständchen (F sharp)
    • Debussy: Green (G Flat)
  • Possible Sight-reading
  • Follow DMA Audition Format
    • One exception to the format – Instead of a lecture, we will conduct a short interview.

You are welcome to bring your own instrumentalist and vocalist to the audition. However, if you need the school to provide or if you have any further questions, please notify Dr. Zhihua Tang, Director of Collaborative Piano, at least two weeks before your audition date.

DMA Performance Audition Details

  • All domestic applicants must audition in person. (The area must approve any exceptions.)
  • International applicants applying for scholarships and assistantships must audition in person. (The area must approve any exceptions.)
    All other international applicants may submit a recording for provisional acceptance and audition in person in the first semester in residence.
  • Applicants who do not pass an audition the first time may audition one more time the following semester.
  • A second failed audition precludes any further consideration for admission into the DMA program.
  • Applicants will be notified of audition results by the end of March.

The audition consists of:

  • A twenty-minute performance from the recital program
  • A ten-minute lecture on the music
  • The program should be varied in regard to different periods, styles, and tempi of music.
  • The applicant will begin the audition with a selection of her/his choice.
    • The audition committee will choose the other selections from the program.
  • The applicant should be prepared to lecture on any work on the recital program.
  • Possible topics might include the formal structure and style of a piece; its compositional techniques and devices; its relationship to other works of the same composer, period, or genre; technical problems; the dramatic setting of an aria; or the historical background of an opera.
Return to Doctoral Admissions