Lang/Parsons
Finalize your portfolio and Parsons Challenge at the time you submit your application. Doing this will help prevent any delays in reviewing your application, as we need to receive all required materials before we can place your application under review.
All items in your portfolio submission should be submitted through The New School’s Online Application Center. Please do NOT submit an additional hard-copy portfolio to the office of admission.
Portfolio
Freshman and transfer applicants must submit a portfolio of 8-12 images. Portfolios can include a range of media such as drawing, painting, sculpture, fashion design, animation, performance, graphic design, or sketchbook
pages. We encourage you to show experimentation and breadth, and the portfolio does not need to specifically address the major to which you are applying.
Parsons Challenge
Freshman and transfer applicants must create and submit a new visual work inspired by the theme within a piece submitted in your portfolio. Support your process by writing one 500 word essay describing how your ideas
developed. You may also submit up to two additional visual pieces that document your process. All forms of media are acceptable—drawing, video, photography, sculpture, 3D work, collage, and digital images. The Parsons Challenge helps the Admission
Committee understand how a prospective student develops ideas, visually communicates those ideas, and defends the work in writing.
Lang/Jazz
We expect to host auditions for spring 2022 by recording only and for fall 2022 both by recording and in person.
Applicants will be invited to schedule their live audition once their applications have been received.
In-person auditions are conducted with a live rhythm section of current student musicians (piano, bass, drums), so make sure to bring copies of sheet music or charts. We ask that you perform at least one tune with the live musicians when auditioning in
person.
Prepare and perform three songs, no longer than 15 minutes total:
- Song 1: A Standard. This tune should highlight your improvisational skills where applicable. Refer to the Traditional American Songbook, blues tune, jazz tune, and Bossa Nova descriptions in the Typical Repertoire information below.
- Song 2: A piece of your choosing, in any style (jazz, blues, pop, soul, rock R&B, an original work, etc.), which you can perform solo, with pre-recorded backing tracks (for recorded auditions only), or with a live rhythm section.
- Song 3: Another piece of your choosing, in any style (jazz, blues, pop, soul, rock, R&B, an original work, etc.), which you can perform solo, with pre-recorded backing tracks (for recorded auditions only), or with a live rhythm section.
We want to see diversity in your three audition pieces. Aim to play three different tempos and styles, and show us works you love to perform. We want to see you at your best!
Typical Repertoire
The Traditional American Songbook includes songs taken from American musical theater and performed in a jazz context. Composers like George Gershwin ("Summertime"), Irving Berlin ("Blue Skies"), Cole Porter ("What
Is This Thing Called Love"), Rogers & Hart ("My Funny Valentine"), and many others composed these pieces.
Blues tunes include songs from the long tradition of American blues, from W.C. Handy ("St. Louis Blues") to Robert Johnson ("Sweet Home Chicago") to more swing-oriented songs like "Alright, Okay, You Win" and "Got My Mojo Working" and more jazz-oriented
songs like "Now's the Time," "Route 66," and "Blue Monk."
Jazz tunes come primarily from the instrumental jazz world and include works by Duke Ellington ("Take the A Train"), Charlie Parker ("Ornithology"), Miles Davis ("Tune Up"), Thelonious Monk ("'Round Midnight"), Charles Mingus ("Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"),
John Coltrane ("Moment's Notice"), and hundreds more.
Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim is the most commonly played composer of Bossa Nova tunes, including the frequently performed works "Girl from Ipanema" and "Desafinado."
Singer-songwriter repertoire from the 1960s to the present including Lennon & McCartney, Ashford & Simpson, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Elton John, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Prince, Tom Waits, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright,
Ani DiFranco, Alicia Keyes, and others are welcome.
Backing Track Resources
Applicants who are unable to record with a live rhythm section are strongly encouraged to use a digital accompaniment resource such as:
Video Audition
Applicants submitting video auditions will upload recordings through The New School’s Online Application Center.
We prefer recorded video auditions with live accompaniment if possible. If not possible, pre-recorded accompaniment tracks are okay. While the audio of audition recordings should be high quality, we don’t require applicants to record their auditions in
a professional studio. All video audition files must be clearly labeled with the applicant's name, the instrument, and the title of each track.
Video auditions must be received at the Office of Admission by the application deadline.
Once your application and audition upload is complete, you’ll be invited to schedule a video conference interview. Interviews are ten minutes and are intended to help us to get to know one another better. There’s nothing specific you need to prepare.
Audition Evaluation
All auditions are primarily judged on the following criteria:
- Individual expression
- Technique
- Musical maturity
- Originality
- Ability to phrase a melody, perform with a committed rhythmic feel, and improvise confidently with a rhythm section
The audition is the primary evaluation tool for both acceptance to the BFA program and scholarship consideration. All merit-based scholarships are awarded at the time of admission and included in your decision letter.