Percussion Audition Requirements

All instruments will be supplied; students may bring their own snare drum and tambourine.

Freshman (BM)
A solo piece for keyboard percussion; a solo piece for timpani; a solo piece for snare drum

Sophomore, Junior, Senior (BM)
An advanced solo from any area of percussion, and:
Snare drum: a rudimental roll mf>p<ff, and an orchestral roll mf>p<ff.
Keyboard percussion: A four-mallet etude.
Timpani: an etude from The Solo Timpanist by Vic Firth, or an etude of similar difficulty

Masters in Performance (MM)
Mallet, timpani, and snare drum or multi-percussion solo pieces at the level of a final senior recital. Due to set-up constraints, applicants can submit a videotape of a multi-percussion solo at the live audition.

Performance Diploma
Mallet, timpani, and snare drum or multi-percussion solo pieces at the level of a final masters recital. Due to set-up constraints, applicants can submit a videotape of a multi-percussion solo at the live audition.

Masters in Orchestral Studies / Professional Diploma in Orchestral Studies

• 2- or 4-mallet marimba or vibes solo
• Timpani solo
• All of the following excerpts (five of these excerpts will be picked by the faculty at the audition):

Snare Drum: Rimsky-Korsakov/ Scheherezade; Capriccio Español; William Schumann/ Symphony #3; Prokofiev/ Lt. Kije
Xylophone: Kabalevsky/ Colas Breugnon Overture; Stravinsky/ Le Noce; Kodaly/ Hary Janos
Bells: Dukas/ Sorcerer's Apprentice; Debussy/ La Mer
Tambourine: Stravinsky/ Petrouchka
Cymbals: Tchaikowsky/ Romeo and Juliet
Vibraphone: Bernstein/ West Side Story
Timpani: Beethoven/ Sym. No. 9; Tchaikowsky/ Sym. No. 4; Bartok/ Concerto for Orchestra