Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Voice Audition Information 

Voice: Opera + Musical Theater

The prescreening repertoire: 

l  Three classical selections: one each in French, German and Italian. One selection must be an aria.

Live Audition Repertoire 

l  Pieces should be memorized.  

l  The audition must be accompanied by a pianist. You may bring your own accompanist or request an official ASU accompanist to be 

       provided for your audition free of charge. 

l  If you are using the ASU accompanist, you must submit the titles, names of composers and keys of your 

   audition repertoire on the Audition Confirmation form within 24 hours of receiving your Audition Time Confirmation email.  

l  The Audition Confirmation form will be available to you online after you receive your Audition Time Confirmation email. 

l  On the day of your audition, you are required to bring piano scores of your audition pieces for the pianist. The scores should be double-sided and organized in a three-ring binder. 

l  The official ASU accompanist, who is an experienced collaborative pianist, is available to meet briefly immediately prior to your audition time to discuss any cuts and/or breathe marks. A rehearsal is not possible with an official ASU accompanist. If you wish to be able to rehearse with a pianist prior to the audition, please contact Dr. Andrew Campbell to inquire after hiring an accompanist for the audition.

Recorded Auditions: While recorded auditions are acceptable, a live audition is strongly recommended for scholarship consideration. Recorded auditions must be submitted in video format. Audio recordings are not accepted. See "Recordings + Portfolios" for technical specifications.

Voice (MM)

Four memorized classical pieces: 

l  One French selection. 

l  One German selection. 

l  One Italian selection. 

l  One English selection. 

l  At least one must be an opera aria, but not all four.

Voice (DMA)

Prepare a 30-minute mini-recital consisting of the following: 

l  A minimum of four song groups in different languages. Please include at least one opera aria and one oratorio aria. 

l  Please bring to your audition six copies of a program listing your audition repertoire. At the time of your audition, you will select your 

      starting piece. The audition panel will select from the remaining pieces listed on your program. You will not necessarily sing everything. 

l  Scores may be used for oratorio arias only. All other repertoire must be memorized. All pieces must be sung with live piano accompaniment.

Music Theatre/Opera Performance (MM) 

l  Please see Conducting - Music Director for the Master of Music in Music Theatre/Opera Direction. 

l  To be considered for a live, in-person audition, applicants for all voice performance concentrations must upload a prescreening video 

      to the School of Music Application and submit the application by October 1 for spring admission and December 1 for fall admission.

Prescreening Repertoire 

Opera Emphasis: 

l  Three complete classical selections: one each in French, German and Italian.  

l  One selection must be an opera aria.

Musical Theatre Emphasis: 

l  One complete classical selection 

l  One complete musical theater selection, and one monologue no more than one minute in length.

Live Audition Repertoire

Please prepare the following:

Opera Emphasis

Four memorized classical pieces:

l  One French selection. 

l  One German selection. 

l  One Italian selection. 

l  One English selection. 

l  At least one must be an opera aria, but not all four.

Musical Theatre Emphasis 

l  One classical selection, which should be an art song or aria in any language. 

l  Two complete contrasting musical theatre selections, one ballad and one uptempo.  At least one selection should be from the Golden Age/classical musical theatre genre.  

l  One monologue from a musical or play not exceeding one minute in length. Monologues will be performed separate from the dance and singing auditions and may be coached by the panel. 

l  All Music Theatre applicants must perform a dance assessment. The purpose of the assessment is not so much to seek strong dancers, as it is to gain a full picture of the complete musical theatre performer. Students should wear comfortable movement or dance attire and character shoes that are easy to move in. Students will be taught two brief combinations. There will be dressing rooms available in which to change before and after the dance audition. The dance and monologue audition will take place prior to the singing audition.

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