Auditions

How to Audition

Please complete an online Audition Request Form.

Audition Dates

Our next audition days are: March 8, 2024 and May 16-22, 2024. We will conduct additional auditions by appointment throughout the year.

General requirements

  • All applicants who live within a 250-mile radius or more from Brooklyn College must audition in person.
  • Auditions for the Advanced Certificate in Music Education are video only.
  • For any special requests due to extenuating circumstances, please e-mail us
  • See instrument specific requirements below.

Video Submission

Submit your audition videos via our Audition Request Form. Links can be shared in the Audition Submission box designated for this purpose as instructed. Upload links from YouTube only. Make sure the videos can be viewed by:

  1. Ensuring that they are visible.
  2. Selecting “Made for kids” when you are rendering the video.

In the description, include your name, voice part or instrument, degree program, previous education, and titles and composers of repertoire. Multiple links are acceptable.

For those who would usually audition with an accompanist, you may perform a cappella or with a track. Vocalists must perform with accompaniment! (A prerecorded accompaniment track is acceptable.)

Placement exams will be administered at a later date TBD.

Video Audition Submissions

  • Applicants’ videos must meet all audition requirements for their instrument. Consult those requirements via the links below.
  • Applicants should submit one link to youtube.com that contains the necessary audition repertoire, though multiple links are acceptable.
  • Each video should be labeled with the applicant’s name, degree program, and title/composer of the audition repertoire.

Audition Requirements

Brass

Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty.

French Horn

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Etudes Novelles Melodiques et Progressives, volumes 3–6, by Maxime-Alphonse)
  • One work from the standard repertory (a movement from a concerto by Mozart, from the Sonata by Beethoven)
  • One work from the 20th century (two contrasting movements from the Hindemith Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Trombone

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Melodious Etudes, Bk. 1, by J. Robchut)
  • One work from the standard repertory (a concerto movement by Rimsky-Korsakov)
  • One work from the 20th century (two contrasting movements from the Hindemith Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Trumpet

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Studies in Classical and Modern Style by Longinotti)
  • One work from the standard repertory (a concerto movement by Haydn, Hummel)
  • One work from the 20th century (two contrasting movements from the Hindemith Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Tuba

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Seventy B-flat Tuba Studies by V. Blazhevich)
  • One work from the standard repertory (Serenade No. 12 by Persichetti)
  • Sight reading

Guitar

Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty.

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic
  • One technical study (Twenty-five Melodious Studies by Carcassi, H. Villa-Lobos, Sor, Giuliani, etc.)
  • One work from the standard repertory (Giuliani, Bach, Sor, Tarrega)
  • One work from the 20th century (Brindle, Turina)
  • Sight reading

Harp

  • One sonatina from Seven Progressive Sonatas by Naderman (Martenot Edition) or an etude from 48 Etudes by Dizi (Hasselmans Edition)
  • One work from the 17th or 18th century (Largo from the Fifth Violin Sonata by Bach-Grandjany, Partita in B by Bach-Renie)
  • One of the following works:
    • Fantaisie on a Theme of Haydn by Grandjany,
    • The Harmonious Blacksmith, Theme and Variations by Handel-Salzedo, or
    • Legende by Renie
  • One work from the 20th century (Prelude in C by Prokofiev, First Arabesque by Debussy-Renie, Preludes by Marcel Tournie)
  • A cadenza from the symphonic or operatic literature (Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, Overture to Mignon by Thomas)
  • Sight reading

Percussion

Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty. Proficiency in each of the following three areas is expected.

Mallets

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Modern School of Xylophone by M. Goldenberg)
  • One solo work (such as the first or third movement from Violin Concerto in A minor by J.S. Bach)
  • Sight reading

Snare Drum

  • A technical study (Etudes in Modern School for Snare Drum by M. Goldenberg)
  • Excerpt passages from the standard symphonic repertory (Third Symphony by William Schuman)
  • Sight reading

Timpani

  • Singing of all intervals and tuning the drums in 4ths, 5ths, and octaves
  • Technical studies (two each of the two-drum and three-drum exercises from Modern Method for Timpani by S. Goodman)
  • Excerpt passages from any Beethoven symphony
  • Sight reading

Piano and Organ

Music performance applicants must perform all works by memory, although exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis with departmental approval. All other applicants must perform at least one piece by memory.

(Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty.)

Piano

B.Mus. in music performance applicants:
  • One work by J.S. Bach containing a fugue
  • The first movement of a Classical-era sonata
  • One work from the Romantic period
  • One work from the Impressionist or early-Modernist eras to the present day
  • Sight reading
All non-performance applicants (B.A. in music, B.Mus. in music composition, B.Mus. in music education):
  • A work from the Baroque or Classical era
  • A composition of the applicant’s choice
  • Sight reading

Harpsichord

  • An invention, prelude or movement from a French Suite by J.S. Bach
  • One movement of a work by a composer of the French School (Rameau, Couperin)
  • A Scarlatti sonata
  • Sight reading

Organ

  • One work from the standard 18th-century repertory (a prelude and fugue from the Eight Little Preludes and Fugues by J.S. Bach, or other work of comparable length and technical level)
  • One work from the standard repertory of a period other than the 18th century
  • Sight reading

Strings

Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty. Note that all sonatas and concertos should be prepared with piano accompaniment and that an accompanist will be provided for the audition. Non-standard repertoire should, therefore, be communicated in advance of the audition.

Cello

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic through three octaves
  • A technical study from the High School of Cello Playing by D. Popper
  • Two contrasting movements from the standard concerto repertory (Saint-Saëns, Haydn C Major, Boccherini B flat)
  • Two contrasting movements from a solo suite by J.S. Bach
  • One work from the 20th century (a movement from the Barber Sonata, Shostakovich Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Double Bass

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through three octaves
  • A technical study (Thirty Etudes by Simandl)
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a concerto or sonata by Vivaldi)
  • An orchestral excerpt from a 20th-century work (Prokofiev, Stravinsky)
  • Sight reading

Viola

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through three octaves
  • A technical study by Kreutzer
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a concerto or sonata by J.S. Bach, Handel, Telemann, Schubert)
  • One movement from a cello suite by J.S. Bach
  • One work from the 20th century (Hindemith sonatas)
  • Sight reading

Violin

  • Three different movements from contrasting works
  • One three-octave scale and arpeggios from a key of the applicant’s choosing

Voice

Two contrasting selections:

  • One song originally written in English (Spiritual, Copland, Barber, Rorem, Price, Bonds, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Haydn, Purcell, Handel, lute songs)
  • One song or aria originally set in a foreign language presented in the original language (Mozart, Bach, Puccini, Debussy, Schubert, Brahms, 17th- and 18th-century Italian literature, or other opera and oratorio selections).

All selections must be performed from memory.

Woodwind

Musical examples listed in parentheses are recommended but may be substituted by works of comparable length and technical difficulty.

Bassoon

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (25 Studies, Op. 24 in All Keys by L. Milde)
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a sonata by Galliard, a concerto movement by Mozart)
  • One work from the 20th century (Hindemith Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Clarinet

  • Two contrasting clarinet pieces that demonstrate your musical and technical ability. One of the selections may include a work outside the classical music repertoire.
  • A technical study/etude such as Rose 32 or 40 Etudes (other suggested etudes: Klosé, Baermann, Cavallini, Jeanjean, Polatschek, or Jettel)
  • A piece from the 20th/21st century (for example: Stravinsky, William O. Smith, Berio, Finzi, or a modern or avant-garde work); this may be non-classical.
  • For further guidance please contact Professor Marianne Gythfeldt at mgythfeldt@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Flute

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Twenty Four Caprices by W. Schade, Studies by Andersen)
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a concerto by Mozart)
  • One work from the 20th century (two contrasting movements from the Hindemith Sonata, Poulenc Sonata)
  • Sight reading

Oboe

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Forty-eight Famous Studies by W. Ferling)
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a sonata or concerto by Handel, Vivaldi)
  • One work from the 20th century (two contrasting movements from the sonatas by Poulenc, Hindemith)
  • Sight reading

Saxophone

  • Scales, all keys: major, minor, chromatic, through two octaves
  • A technical study (Thirty Grand Exercises or Etudes by M. Mule, or a jazz etude)
  • One work from the standard repertory (two contrasting movements from a solo work by E. Bozza, P. Creston)
  • Sight reading

Brooklyn. All in.