Prescreening & Audition Repertoire - Yale School of Music

Conducting Audition Information

Orchestral Conducting

Prescreening Recording (Video required; online submission mandatory):

Applicants must submit video excerpts highlighting the applicant’s best orchestral conducting. No specific repertoire is required. However, the samples must include at least two contrasting musical styles of standard orchestral repertoire and must have been filmed within the past twelve months.

A minimum of three excerpts must be uploaded to a video hosting website (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). The videos should contain the following:

• (1) footage of the applicant conducting an ensemble/orchestra in concert
• (2) footage of the applicant working with an ensemble/orchestra in rehearsal

Note: All footage should contain the title of the piece and the date and name of the ensemble (mandatory). In addition, for rehearsal footage, it would be helpful for the conductor to wear a lavalier microphone, to avoid poor audio quality.

The video camera should be positioned behind the orchestra and pointed toward the front of the conductor. We are most interested in rehearsal footage, although some concert footage should also be included.

Each video sample and any additional samples should be uploaded as a separate video file and should total no more than twenty minutes in length. It is preferred that videos be made with a full orchestra, but a mixed ensemble of about fifteen musicians is acceptable. The video footage should focus on the conductor, not the ensemble.

Live Audition:

Select applicants will be invited to New Haven during the week of February 12, 2018 for a series of interviews and for a live audition. Invited applicants will be asked to conduct several selections from the standard orchestral repertoire with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale. Repertoire will be included in the invitation letter.

Choral Conducting

Prescreening Recording (Video required):

Applicants must submit a video (DVD in NTSC format or video upload) of up to fifteen minutes showing the conducting of both rehearsal and performance.

Live Audition:

Those applicants invited to New Haven for a live audition will be expected to demonstrate a highly developed level of comprehensive musicianship, including theory, transposition, keyboard skill, and score reading. Individual conducting assignments for the live audition will be made in the audition invitation letter.

Updated on 08/28/2018