Music
Audition Requirements | Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Percussion Audition Information
Auditions
should be performed without accompaniment (although playback of electronics on
CD or MP3 player is acceptable).
- Graduate applicants must demonstrate
proficiency in the areas described below.
- In addition, graduate applicants must
prepare two (2) standard orchestral excerpts each for snare drum, timpani,
and xylophone.
- Graduate applicants may be asked to sight
read on the instruments below.
- Graduate applicants to the Contemporary
Classical Music program should follow those repertoire guidelines.
- You are encouraged to program creatively so
as to represent your skills well and also demonstrate something unique
about yourself as a musician.
Snare Drum
Perform
both of the following, totaling about four minutes:
- Concert etude. Suggested composers:
Delécluse, Cirone, Aleo, Peters.
- Rudimental solo. Suggested composers: Pratt,
Tompkins, Wilcoxon.
Mallets (xylophone, marimba, and
vibraphone: your choice)
Perform
both of the following, totaling at least four minutes:
- Two-mallet solo. A work of your choice; be
creative! Some suggestions are Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied
Violin, or Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, or selections from the MassChap 2010
Xylophone Collection.
- Four-mallet solo. For suggestions, see Recommended
Solos.
Note:
For two-mallet and/or four-mallet solo, creative adaptations of any other
composers' works are most welcome. In general, pieces with tempo fluctuations
and a variety of rhythms and characters are preferred over perpetual motion
pieces.
Timpani
Perform
the following, totaling about three minutes:
- Solo piece, about three minutes in duration.
Suggested composers: Woud, Hochrainer, Firth, Delécluse, Lepak, Macarez,
Carter.
Updated on 09/17/2018