New England Conservatory

Audition Information | New England Conservatory

Conducting Audition Information

 

Prescreening portfolios are required of:

  • All Composition and Jazz Composition applicants

Prescreening video recordings are required of:

  • All Artist Diploma and DMA applicants, regardless of major
  • All undergraduate, MM, and GD applicants to:

Cello, Chamber Music, Clarinet, Collaborative Piano, Conducting, Contemporary Improvisation, Flute, French Horn, Harp (dual degree only), Jazz Composition, Jazz Performance, Oboe, Piano, Saxophone, Trombone (Tenor &Bass), Trumpet, Violin, Viola, Vocal Performance, Vocal Pedagogy

 

Choral Conducting (MM & GD)

Note: To be eligible for a live audition invitation, conducting applicants who are not native speakers of English must submit an official TOEFL score report showing a passing score of 79 iBT by December 1. 

The prescreening submission should be between 15 and 20 minutes in length and should include both rehearsal and performance footage in which the applicant is visible.

  • The rehearsal footage must show a frontal view of the applicant and should feature a piece that is in the beginning stages of the rehearsal process.
  • The performance footage must also show a frontal view of the applicant and should feature two works of differing styles. Neither of the performance pieces need be the rehearsal piece.

Selected applicants will be invited to NEC for an audition in front of one of the NEC Choral Department's ensembles, and an interview and examination with Erica Washburn. Repertoire for this audition, a seating chart for the ensemble, and interview/examination materials will be provided at least one month prior to the audition.

 

Wind Ensemble Conducting (MM, GD & DMA)

Note: To be eligible for a live audition invitation, conducting applicants who are not native speakers of English must submit an official TOEFL score report showing a passing score of 79 iBT by December 1. 

The prescreening submission should be between 15 and 20 minutes in length and should include both rehearsal and performance footage in which the applicant is visible.

  • All of the rehearsal footage should show a frontal view of the applicant; performance footage should also include a frontal view of the applicant.
  • At least one work should be from the common practice period (1600-1900) OR a 20th-century work written employing the common practice period use of tonality and musical rhetoric.

After review, selected applicants will be invited to NEC for an examination and interview with faculty, and will audition in front of a live ensemble.

 

Orchestral Conducting (AD)

Under the direction of NEC's Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood Director of Orchestras, Hugh Wolff, the highly-selective AD in Orchestral Conducting program is designed to develop the artistic and leadership skills needed for a professional orchestra career.

The two-year, graduate-level curriculum features course work in score reading, instrumentation, orchestration, and performance practice, along with private studio, to reinforce a student's understanding of the conductor's art and craft. The AD conductor will lead approximately ten sectionals during the school year with NEC symphonies and serve as cover conductor for a number of concerts.

She/he will conduct one full NEC Symphony Orchestra concert (or two half concerts) during each spring semester and may conduct NEC Opera productions. The conductor will also learn fundraising and marketing skills from NEC's Institutional Advancement Office and collaborate with NEC's Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Programs and Partnerships departments on education and outreach.

The conductor will travel to Brussels occasionally to observe Hugh Wolff's rehearsals and concerts with the National Orchestra of Belgium. Through mini-apprenticeships with partner organizations like the Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, and the Handel + Haydn Society, the conductor will become well versed in all the styles and genres they may encounter in the professional world. There will also be some flexibility for the Artist Diploma conductor to continue to engage in professional activities outside of NEC.

Current and former students

Recent NEC alumni are emerging as the next generation of orchestra leaders. Joshua Weilerstein is the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, after having served as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 2011-2014. Aram Demirjian is Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, following an Associate Conductor position with the Kansas City Symphony. Lio Kuokman is currently the Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Earl Lee is the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s RBC Resident Conductor. Nathan Aspinall is the Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony. Andres Lopera is Assistant Conductor with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Matthew Szymanski is the founder and Music Director of the Boston-based orchestra Phoenix.

 

Updated on 09/29/2018