Audition and Application

Singers

should prepare, from memory, two contrasting songs from the classical repertoire. At least one of the songs must be in one of the following languages: Italian, French, German or Spanish. A music theater song may be included as a third selection. The auditionee's sight reading ability will also be tested.

• Jazz & Commercial applicant singers may substitute a jazz standard for the third selection.
• B.S. Music Business applicant singers may substitute another memorized song in a genre of their choosing (MT/Jazz/Great American Songbook/Gospel/Rock/Pop) in lieu of a second classical piece.

Pianists

should be prepared to play representative compositions from two to three of the following styles (A composition of the appropriate level will also be presented for sight-reading):

• Baroque
• Classical
• Romantic
• 20th Century

Jazz students

(except Singers and Percussionists; please see “Singers” or “Percussionists”) should be prepared to play the following:

• All jazz scales and modes
• A Blues for improvisation
• Two jazz standards of their choice
• A prepared etude or solo transcription.

Percussionists

should prepare to perform on snare, timpani, and mallets; in addition, they may also perform on the drum kit. Applicants should demonstrate proficiency in each area as follows:

• Snare Drum
  • Perform both following, totaling about three minutes:
    • Rudimental solo. Suggested composers: Pratt, Campbell, Wilcoxon
    • Concert étude. Suggested composers: Peters, Cirone, Délécluse
    • All rolls.
• Mallets (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone - your choice)
  • Perform both following, totaling at least four minutes:
    • Two-mallet solo. Suggested composers: Bach (preferably from Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin OR Suites for Unaccompanied Cello), Kreisler, Bozza (Fourteen Arabesque-Studies for Flute)
    • Four-mallet solo. Suggested composers: Abe, Friedman, Finkel, O’Meara, Peters, Gomez, Stout
• Timpani
  • Total duration should be about three minutes. One or two études utilizing two, three, or four drums. Demonstrate technical proficiency with pitch matching and interval tuning, rolls, etc. Suggested composers: Firth, Peters, Hochreiner
• Drum Set
  • Demonstrate various styles. Sight-reading.

All other instrumentalists

should prepare diatonic and chromatic scales, as well as two solos in contrasting styles displaying their (1) technical proficiency and (2) lyrical/ interpretive ability.

Please make sure all correspondence regarding the audition process is with the Department of Music, rather than with Hofstra Admission. If you have any questions, please contact us at music@hofstra.edu or 516-463-5490.