Music Department Audition & Scholarship Information
Students wishing to major or minor in music are required to complete an entrance audition. Other talented students may also audition if they wish to compete for Music Performance Scholarships. (Note that students who wish to participate in ensembles at Asbury University -- choirs, band, orchestra, etc. -- but who are not competing for scholarships do not need to audition for those groups until they arrive on campus.) The following audition information, then, pertains to those who wish to major or minor in music and also to those whose advanced performing skill might make them eligible for performance scholarships.
Auditions completed by March 1st have greatest advantage in consideration for music scholarships, but all auditions completed prior to the start of the classes will receive consideration.
Please click on the link below and read the attached pdf file with Adobe software for additional scholarship information, then fill out and mail the Music Performance Scholarship Application if you wish to audition for scholarships.
Music Performance Scholarship Form.pdf
Entrance auditions will be held during the visit weekends sponsored by the Asbury University Admissions Office. In the 2010-2011 school year, on-campus auditions will be held on the following dates:
• Friday, November 11, 2011: Fall Visit Day [Open House at 2 pm]
• Friday, November 18, 2011: All-Star Band Clinic Weekend
• Friday, January 27, 2012: Winter Visit Day [Open House at 2 pm]
• Friday, February 10, 2012: Scholarship Weekend I
• Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25, 2012: Scholarship Weekend II
• Friday, April 20, 2012: Spring Visit Day [Open House at 2 pm]
Applicants unable to be present for an audition at the university should request permission to submit a taped audition. Auditions may be accepted in one of the following formats: DVD, VHS, or VHS-C. (If a student is unable to provide one of these formats, he/she may contact the Coordinator of Instrumental, Keyboard, or Vocal Studies for additional information.) All audition materials should be addressed to: Music Department Chair, Asbury University, 1 Macklem Drive, Wilmore, KY 40390.
A student who is unable to complete a successful performance audition may also begin a music major or minor with probationary standing. Musical probation is monitored by the Chair of the Music Department. Students may be removed from musical probation upon the recommendation of the studio instructor after receiving a minimum of a B average in the private lesson grade combined with a minimum of a B average in the semester jury examination graded by a minimum of three music faculty members. A student may remain on musical probation, however, for no more than two semesters. (Note that this section pertains to musical probation only. Academic probation is based upon entering test scores and/or grade point average, monitored through the office of the Associate Academic Dean.)
All students who wish to major or minor in music must have the approval of the music faculty. A student who successfully passes the entrance audition is generally admitted to the music program through the completion of a music minor or the sophomore level of the music major. At the end of the sophomore year of private study, an advancement exam will determine eligibility for upperclassman standing.
Prospective students performing an audition on campus generally prepare solo literature in the classic tradition of Western music and also perform one or two sight-reading excerpts. Auditionees should use the following repertoire guidelines in preparing literature for audition. (Students who are unable to demonstrate appropriate repertoire standards may be considered for entrance to musical studies but may be ineligible for scholarship consideration.) We also realize that, on occasion, students wish to demonstrate proficiency on more than one instrument. Students with such skills are welcome to perform auditions on multiple instruments.
Instrumental Audition Guidelines
A. Wind Instruments
Students should be prepared to perform major scales through four sharps and four flats, chromatic scales covering the entire range of the instrument, and selected solos representing at least two styles of music (ex.: Baroque, Classic, Romantic, Twentieth Century). In addition, students will perform a short sight-reading excerpt.
B. String Instruments
Students should be prepared to perform major scales through four sharps and four flats and selected solos representing at least two styles of music (ex.: Baroque, Classic, Romantic, Twentieth Century). In addition, students will perform a short sight-reading excerpt.
B. Percussion Instruments
The percussion audition will be in two parts. On the snare drum the student will play a solo (rudimental or orchestral), a long roll (crescendo and diminuendo) and rudiments. On a melody percussion instrument (bells, marimba or xylophone) the student will play all major scales through three flats and three sharps and a solo demonstrating at least two-mallet technique. Students are also welcome to include timpani literature in auditions. In addition to prepared solo literature, students will also perform a short sight-reading excerpt.
Please contact Dr. Glen Flanigan, Coordinator of Instrumental Studies, for further assistance with any matter related to instrumental auditions.
Organ Audition Guidelines
An entering organ student should demonstrate proficiency on the piano in at least two stylistic periods (ex.: Baroque, Classic, Romantic, Twentieth Century) with levels of difficulty equal to the following:
- A two-part invention by J.S. Bach
- A standard sonata by Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven
- A waltz by Chopin
- A piano composition by Bartok, Kabalevsky, etc.
Students who wish to be admitted to the study of organ may or may not have had previous training on the instrument. For those who have had private organ studies, the following are suggested as sample audition pieces: a prelude and fugue from "Eight Little Preludes and Fugues" by J.S. Bach (Krebs); a chorale prelude from "The Liturgical Year" by J.S. Bach.
Please contact Dr. Donald Zent, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, for additional assistance on any matter related to keyboard auditions.
Piano Audition Guidelines
Students should be prepared to perform several major scales (hands together, four octaves) and solo piano literature representing two stylistic periods (ex. Baroque, Classic, Romantic, Twentieth Century). The piano literature should either equal or exceed the level of challenge of works listed here:
- Baroque -- J.S. Bach, Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A Minor;
- Classic -- Beethoven, movement III of Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13;
- Romantic -- Brahms, Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79, No. 2;
- Twentieth Century -- Debussy, Arabesque No. 1 in E Major.
Other appropriate literature might be found in early advanced anthologies, such as the following:
- Aqay, Denes, ed. Volume 47, Early Advanced Classics to Moderns, New York: Consolidated Music Publishers, 1969;
- Bigler, Carole; and Lloyd-Watts, Valery, ed. Recital Winners, Volume Two, Van Nuys, CA: Alfred, 1993;
- Olson, Lynn Freeman, Applause, Book Two, Van Nuys, CA: Alfred 1986.
Please contact Dr. Donald Zent, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, for additional assistance on any matter related to keyboard auditions.
Vocal Audition Guidelines
Students auditioning as a vocal major or minor should demonstrate an ability to sing art songs in two contrasting musical styles or from two contrasting periods of musical history, preferably (1) an English-language art song and (2) an art song sung in Italian or another foreign language. (Note that repertoire must be in the classic tradition for scholarship competition consideration.) Tonal quality, pitch perception and poetic sense will be evaluated along with general musicianship. Following the presentation of the two prepared pieces, students will also perform two sight-singing excerpts - an unaccompanied, single-line melody and an accompanied excerpt.
Prospective students requesting an on-campus vocal audition must first send not only (1) the Vocal Audition Request Form (see link below) but also (2) copies of their music. An accompanist will be provided for on-campus auditions, though a student may bring his or her own if desired. (Pre-recorded accompaniments are not acceptable.) Please be sure when making photocopies of music that all lines of the piano parts appear on the photocopy. (Overly large pages may need to be reduced slightly.) The audition and rehearsal times for vocalists will be confirmed after both the Vocal Audition Request Form and the accompanist copies are received by mail at the Asbury University Music Department, One Macklem Drive, Wilmore KY 40390. (No faxes, please, as the clarity of music sent by fax is generally of insufficient quality for accompanying.) Vocalists are to present two songs representing contrasting styles of classical-tradition art music (ex. Baroque, Classic, Romantic, Twentieth Century). For scholarship consideration, selections should be presented in both English and a foreign language. Students who wish to submit a videotaped audition must first request the sight-singing examples be sent to their accompanist to administer the sight-singing portion of the videotaped audition.
Please contact Dr. Vicki Bell, Vocal Audition Coordinator, for additional assistance on matters related to vocal auditions.
