USC Thornton School of Music

Classical Piano Audition Information

BM, BA, MM, Graduate Certificate (GCRT), DMA

Applicants to programs in Piano must submit a pre-screen recording (an Audio only recording is allowed, but a video recording is preferred) to be reviewed by the faculty. The results of this pre-screen will determine whether an applicant will be invited to perform a live audition on the USC campus in Los Angeles.

Audition requirements

The repertoire required for the pre-screen recording and the live audition are the same. Each movement of each piece submitted for pre-screen must be uploaded as a separate file (e.g., a Bach prelude and fugue must be uploaded separately, each movement of a Beethoven sonata must be uploaded separately). Each uploaded file must also be labeled to indicate the composer, title, and movement (if applicable). This labeling must be done in the designated “TITLE” field in the SlideRoom portal. Please note that if you plan to use your pre-screen recording in lieu of a live audition, your pre-screen is required to be an unedited, single-camera video, performed in one sitting.

Both the pre-screen recording and the live audition should include the following works entirely from memory:

 Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Arts

1. Baroque – a Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach from The Well-Tempered Clavier
2. Classical – a complete multi-movement sonata by a classical composer, up to and including Schubert, but excluding Beethoven opp. 49 and 79
3. One piece from the Romantic, Impressionistic or Contemporary repertoire
4. An etude

 Master of Music and Graduate Certificate

1. A Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach from The Well-Tempered Clavier
2. A complete sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, or Beethoven, excluding Beethoven opp. 49 and 79
3. A complete work of a 19th-century composer
4. One piece or single movement of contemporary, modern or impressionist style
5. An etude of virtuosity at the level of those by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky or Ligeti

 Doctor of Musical Arts

• Applicants must prepare a full-length (60 minute minimum), memorized recital, which includes works from at least four contrasting style periods, including a work that is either contemporary, modern or impressionist. In addition, pianists must present from memory an etude of virtuosity at the level of those by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky or Ligeti. Applicants should also be prepared for sight-reading and an interview as part of their second-round, live audition. All second-round, live DMA piano auditions will be 30 minutes in length.
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Additional information

• Those applicants who pass the pre-screening round will be invited to campus for a live audition as the second round. Applicants located within 100 mile radius of USC are required to audition live in person. If an applicant who has passed the first round cannot be accommodated in a live audition (outside of the 100 mile radius), that applicant must contact the Thornton Admission office at (213) 740-8986 to request that their pre-screen video recording be considered in lieu of a live audition. Please note that if you plan to use your prescreen recording in lieu of a live audition, your prescreen must be an unedited, single-camera video, performed in one sitting. DMA applicants may not use the prescreen as their live audition; all DMA applicants must perform a live audition.
• All applicants should carefully note that no concerti will be accepted as audition pieces and that all audition pieces MUST be memorized. Persons failing to prepare the full audition program following the guidelines described above on both the prescreen recording AND for the live audition, will not be permitted to perform a live audition nor offered admission to the program.
• Current USC students auditioning for the Master’s degree or Graduate Certificate can use their recital or jury as the audition, however current USC Master’s students auditioning for the Doctoral degree must audition on a scheduled audition day.
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• Important notes for spring:
• For admission to the Spring semester, all applications and supporting materials must be submitted by the October 1st deadline. Any application not complete by October 1 may be removed from consideration.
• Applicants for spring admission are required to submit a recording for pre-screening.
• Undergraduate applications are not accepted for Spring admission to this program unless the applicant is already enrolled at USC.
• Current USC piano students for spring admission are not required to submit a recording for pre-screening.
• Spring applicants will be notified via email regarding their prescreen decision.
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Harpsichord

Applicants wishing to study harpsichord should refer to the early music program requirements for information regarding entrance requirements.

Keyboard Collaborative Arts Audition Information

MM, Graduate Certificate (GCRT), DMA

If you are planning to apply to the Artist Diploma program please follow the audition requirements on the Artist Diploma page.

Applicants to Keyboard Collaborative Arts must submit a recording to be pre-screened by the faculty. The results of this pre-screen will determine whether an applicant will be invited to perform a live audition on the USC campus in Los Angeles.

Prescreen Audition Information

One art song and one movement of an instrumental piece performed with partners.

Live Audition Information

To be considered for the KCA program, ALL applicants are required to audition live in person. The applicant must submit a complete list of repertoire including: songs, arias, sonatas/multi-movement works, concerti, character pieces, complete operas; solo, choral, and ballet repertoire. Audition requirements consist of:

1. Two piano solos from contrasting stylistic periods, performed by memory
2. Two complete, contrasting instrumental sonatas
3. Four songs representing stylistic and linguistic variety
4. One aria
5. A demonstration of sight-reading ability
6. A demonstration of skills in diction and translation in one or more of the following: German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Russian and the International Phonetic Alphabet.

All sonatas are to be performed with an instrumentalist; all songs and arias with a singer. The auditionee normally is expected to supply both instrumentalists and singers. Should this not be possible, the KCA department faculty will be happy to play and sing with the auditionee. It is customary to perform instrumental and vocal literature with scores. Audition repertoire may be selected from but is NOT LIMITED TO the following suggested list:

Instrumental Repertoire List

Violin:

• Beethoven
• Sonata in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”
• Sonata in c minor, Op. 30, No. 2
• Sonata in G major, Op. 30, No. 3
• Brahms
• Sonata in G major, Op. 78
• Sonata in A major, Op. 100
• Sonata in d minor, Op. 108
• Mozart
• Sonata in A major, K. 305
• Sonata in B-flat major, K. 454

Viola

• Bloch
• Suite for Viola and Piano
• Brahms
• Sonata in f minor, Op. 120, No. 1
• Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2
• Britten
• Lachrymae, Op. 48
• Hindemith
• Sonata in F major, Op. 11, No. 4

Cello

• Beethoven
• Sonata in g minor, Op. 5, No. 2
• Sonata in A major, Op. 69
• Brahms
• Sonata in e minor, Op. 38
• Debussy
• Sonata in d minor
• Mendelssohn
• Sonata in D major, Op. 58

Vocal Repertoire List

German: 

• Brahms
• Botschaft
• Meine Liebe ist grün
• Schubert
• Der Wanderer
• Die Forelle
• Liebesbotschaft
• Schumann
• Frühlingsnacht
• Mondnacht
• Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden
• Strauss
• Allerseelen
• Ständchen
• Wolf
• Auf einer Wanderung
• In dem Schatten meiner Locken

French

• Debussy
• from Ariettes Oubliées
• Duparc
• L’invitation au voyage
• Phidylé
• Fauré
• En sourdine
• Nôtre amour

English

• Barber:
• from Hermit Songs
• I Hear an Army
• Britten
• from On This Island
• Copland
• from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson

Arias

• Mozart
• Martern aller Arten
• Strauss
• Composer’s Aria
• Stravinsky
• Anne Truelove’s Recitative/Aria/Cabaletta

Any questions in regard to collaborative repertoire may be directed to the Keyboard Collaborative Arts office by calling (213) 740-7703. Please visit our Audition page for more specific information regarding audition dates.

Additional information

It is expected that pianists who live within a 100-mile radius of Los Angeles will provide their own partners for their audition. However, for pianists who come from further away or are new to the area, the faculty hearing the auditions will be happy to play instrumental parts on a second piano and are willing to sing vocal selections with auditioning collaborative pianists.

For auditioning pianists that come from far away, there are a number of very talented USC students, singers, and instrumentalists in the area who sometimes are willing to participate in the audition process as performing partners. They do this for a fee that is set by them (the KCA department does not become involved in the setting or payment of fees) and some of them are willing to rehearse beforehand. Most would only rehearse on the day of the audition or perhaps the day before, though you may find someone who is willing to rehearse with you on a longer-term basis. If you would like a list of potential partners that you could contact yourself, please contact the Keyboard Studies Department regarding the repertoire you would like to offer for your audition and we will make some recommendations for persons you might wish to contact. You can reach the Keyboard Studies Department at (213) 740-7703. There is no guarantee that we will be able to identify partners available at the time of your audition or that we will be able to identify partners to perform every piece. We do this only as a courtesy and not as a required service on our part.

Updated on 08/15/2018