What to Expect
OK, so how do you get ready for the audition itself? Again, that’s something you need to start working on a year or two in advance.

Nancy Buck, associate professor of viola at Arizona State University, says that you should arrive at your audition with the broadest musical knowledge possible. “Someone who’s thinking about music as a career should have a natural curiosity about all aspects of music, so they’d already know not just that it’s important to play their instrument, but that music encompasses history and theory, things they should already have started to discover. Some schools will take on the nurturing of a talent, but a lot of schools want to see talent that is already developed.

“For a student who’s wondering, ‘How do I develop that talent?’ a lot of it is going to concerts, and finding a private teacher who is challenging you to do greater and greater things.”

In more concrete terms, ASU’s Schmidt outlines what you’re expected to do at an audition, instrument in hand: “For any music major here, we expect three scales—here, you can pretty much pick which ones—and usually something that’s like an étude for a music-education major or a Bach solo movement for a performance major, and a well-prepared solo.

“For the solo, don’t pick something that’s too hard to show your strengths. It’s better to come in with something that’s well prepared and shows good tone, good intonation, and a sense of musicianship. The audition committee is more interested in those things than the level of difficulty. Sometimes we’ll have a viola major try to audition with Hindemith or the Walton concerto, but that’s too advanced to really show what they can do; after they leave the room, the committee says, ‘I can’t tell if this person has the skills we’re looking for because the piece was wrong.’”

Technical expectations, Schmidt says, are usually a bit higher for performance majors. “We’re much more concerned with a well-established instrument position, good basic bowing skills, fluency in shifting, excellent attention to intonation, and good left-hand habits, so there’s not a lot of remedial work to do,” she explains. “Those are things you should have started working on early, like in junior high. But it might be possible to catch up with four to five hours a day of good practice for a couple of years.”

Be Prepared
Schmidt suggests giving yourself a full year before the auditions to work on your repertoire. Becker and Buck advise you to practice auditioning, or somehow putting yourself on the spot. “You have to stand up in front of people and present something, like when you give an oral report,” says Buck. “If you’re not comfortable with that, then you need to find opportunities that help you practice that, so when you do enter this situation, it doesn’t faze you. Playing in recitals regularly is the best practice you can do before an audition. At least line up your teddy bear and all your stuffed animals and pretend that’s the university faculty listening to every note you play; imagine they’re staring at you or passing notes around while you play, so you’re not distracted by that.”

Becker urges you not to take a late audition date if you have a choice; you might think you’ll benefit from an extra few weeks of practice, but by the time you show up all the scholarship money may already have been awarded, and fewer slots will be open to new students. If you can, audition in January or February, rather than in March.

The audition may include a bit of sight-reading, perhaps a music-theory placement exam, but generally nothing you haven’t been alerted to well beforehand.

“Usually it’s not like a test that is survival of the fittest,” says Buck. “It’s a forum for the applicants to show us what they can do. People need to know that an audition can also be an interview, and not be surprised that we want to know a little more and ask why they want to go into music, what do they want to do with this degree, where do they see themselves ten years from now. And it’s an opportunity for them to ask us about the school.”

Schmidt suggests bringing a simple one-page resumé listing the groups you’ve played in (school orchestras, chamber ensembles).

Don’t expect any kind of individual feedback, though. Usually you go home and wait for an acceptance letter—which should mention any financial aid the school may be offering—or a rejection. Then you gather your acceptance letters, assuming you’ve received more than one, and with your parents work out the pros and cons of each school, including how good a fit it seems to you, and whatever financial considerations there may be.

Becker urges you not to let one school pressure you into making a decision if you’re still waiting to hear from another school you’d like to attend. The deadline set by the National Association of Schools of Music for scholarship acceptance forms to be handed in is not until May 1.

Says Becker, “The student has every right to say, ‘I’m waiting to hear from other schools.’ If the school claims, ‘We can’t wait,’ I think there could be legal ramifications.”

But all of that hinges on what happened at the audition, which is your chance to prove that you have the makings of a well-rounded musician. “We’re interested in discovering what this auditioner has to say through music,” says Buck. “Having extraordinary technical ability is not all that music’s about. There are so many other sides of music to explore; we’re looking for individual voices that add something to the profession.”