X
Home Music Admissions Woodwinds Audition Requirements

Woodwinds Audition Requirements

Please select your instrument:

Bassoon - Undergraduate

  • Major scales, 2 or 3 octaves when possible.
  • Two contrasting etudes or solo pieces that demonstrate both lyrical and technical playing.

Bassoon - Graduate

  • A selection from major works such as the Mozart Concerto, the Saint-Saens Sonata, the Weber Concerto in F Major, the Weber Andante and Rondo, or the Hummel Concerto.
  • Major and minor scales.
  • Two orchestral excerpts in addition to the following: Mozart-Marriage of Figaro Overture, Ravel-Bolero, and Tchaikovsky-Symphony No..4, Mvt. 2.

Clarinet - Undergraduate

  • All major scales by memory, two or three octaves where possible.
  • Chromatic scale, full range.
  • Two contrasting etudes or solo pieces that demonstrate both lyrical and technical playing. Examples are etudes from the Rose- 32 or 40 Etudes, David Hite- Melodious and Progressive Studies, and Weber- Concertino.

Clarinet - Graduate

  • First movement exposition from Mozart Clarinet Concerto, K. 622.
  • A 20th or 21st-century piece.
  • A piece of your choice of contrasting style.
  • 3-4 orchestral excerpts, including Mendelssohn Scherzo.

Flute - Undergraduate

  • Major scales, memorized
  • 3-octave chromatic scale
  • Two contrasting movements or pieces
  • Sightreading

Flute - Graduate

  • One Baroque sonata (Bach, Handel, Blavet, etc.)
  • The first two movements of Mozart's Concerto in G or D major
  • One work from the 20th or 21st century
  • Three orchestral excerpts

Oboe - Undergraduate

  • Major scales, preferably two octaves if possible. The chromatic scale should be played from your lowest note to your highest note.
  • A slow, lyrical solo movement or etude.
  • A fast technical solo/etude. Slow and fast movements or sections may come from the same sonata or concerto. Examples of solos include:
    • Contrasting etudes from the Ferling excerpt book.
    • Contrasting movements from the Telemann Sonata in a minor.
    • Sonatas by Handel, Albinoni, St. Saens, and Concertos by Haydn, Vaughan Williams, Mozart.
    • Contrasting etudes from the Barret Grand Studies.
  • Sight-reading.

Oboe - Graduate

  • Two contrasting etudes of your choice.
  • One solo piece of your choice.
  • One or two movements of a concerto of your choice.
  • Three standard orchestral excerpts.

Saxophone - Undergraduate

  • Prepare two contrasting excerpts from either standard repertoire or Ferling etudes. One should display slow, lyrical playing and the other technical. Examples of the standard repertoire for undergraduate applicants include the following:
    • Sonata No. 3 by Handel arr. Rascher
    • Sonata by Creston
    • Concerto by Glazunov
    • Aria by Bozza
    • Three Romances by Schumann arr. Hemke
    • Sicilienne by Lantier
    • Diversion by Heiden
    • Tableaux de Provence by Maurice
    • Scaramouche by Milhaud
  • Prepare all major scales from memory, full range preferred, at the steady tempo of your choosing.
  • Sight-reading.
  • An etude that displays jazz style concepts or an improvisation over a jazz standard can be submitted via email for consideration. Contact Michael Shults if you would like further suggestions.

Saxophone - Graduate

  • The graduate-level curricula are flexible and may consist of some combination of classical and jazz study, or exclusively one or the other. 
  • Prepare two contrasting works from standard solo literature. Examples of the standard repertoire for graduate applicants include the following:
    • Concerto by Dahl
    • Concertino da Camera by Ibert
    • Prelude, Cadence et Finale by Desenclos
    • Sonata by Albright
    • Sequenza IXb by Berio
    • Sonata by Denisov
    • Etudes by Christian Lauba
    • Fuzzy Bird Sonata by Yoshimatsu
    • Klonos by Swerts
    • Caprice en Forme de Valse by Bonneau
  • Candidates are encouraged to prepare one work composed after 1980.
  • A standard tune performed from memory with a play along may be substituted for one classical selection.
  • Exceptionally strong jazz applicants who are more comfortable in this style but have a strong interest in studying classical style at the graduate level may find the BM audition repertoire suggestions more palatable. Contact Michael Shults with questions. 

Jazz and Studio Music