Undergraduate Audition Requirements

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. An étude by Popper
2. Two contrasting movements from a Bach suite for unaccompanied violoncello
3. A fast and a slow movement from any standard concerto
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Alternatively, applicants may submit a recorded program of 10 to 20 minutes of music in total that includes selected portions of three contrasting works.

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

All pieces must be performed from memory.

1. Two études showing the applicant's level of technical and musical ability
2. At least one major solo work of the applicant's choice performed from memory
3. A representative number of standard orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

Composition Prescreen
All applicants for the composition concentration must submit a portfolio of sample scores for faculty review. Based on this prescreening, they may be invited to the required live interview. Composition applicants currently enrolled in the College and Prep Honors program are not prescreened.

Applicants should submit PDFs of three recent scores (preferably written within the last two years) accompanied by corresponding sound files, if available (live performance recordings are preferred over MIDI files).

If a work is multimedia in nature, a video file may be submitted. If a piece is non-notatable (for example, an electronic piece), a sound file should be submitted, accompanied by a written description of the piece and its concept, in lieu of a score.

Composition Final Audition
Applicants invited to the final round are welcome to upload additional new materials for consideration in the final round.

Applicants invited to the final round are interviewed by members of the Composition faculty to ascertain their knowledge of music and general musical culture. More information regarding the interview will follow.

1. Scales and arpeggios in three octaves. Choose one of the following keys: E, F, or G major; e, f, or g minor.
2. An etude by Simandl (Volume 2 of Method) or Sturm, Storch-Hrabe, Kreutzer, or Bille
3. Two contrasting movements from a concerto or sonata chosen by the applicant
4. Two excerpts from the standard orchestral repertoire (Wagner, Die Meistersinger Overture; Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (Scherzo/Trio); Brahms Symphony No. 2, etc.)
5. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by the auditionee

Alternatively, applicants may submit a recorded program of 10 to 20 minutes of music in total that includes selected portions of three contrasting works.

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Mozart: Concerto in G Major or D Major, exposition of 1st and 2nd movements, with piano
2. A French piece in its entirety:
   
   • Henri Büsser: Prélude et Scherzo
   • Cecile Chaminade: Concertino, Op. 107
   • Fauré: Fantasie, Op. 79
   • Louis Ganne: Andante et Scherzo
   • Georges Hüe: Fantasie
   • Philippe Gaubert: Fantasie
   • Philippe Gaubert: Nocturne et Allegro Scherzando
   • Périlhou: Ballade
   • Paul Taffanel: Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino
3. One additional standard and contrasting work of the applicant's choice
4. One movement of a J. S. Bach sonata or one movement from the J. S. Bach Partita for Solo Flute
5. One of the following suggested works or a similar work by a composer from an historically underrepresented racial or ethnic group, gender, and/or culture. Choosing a work that represents the applicant’s own cultural background or a piece composed by the applicant is also welcomed.
   
   • Allison Loggins-Hull: Homeland
   • Valerie Coleman: Danza de la Mariposa; Bostonian Scenes, movement 1, "Promenade along the Charles River"
   • Adolphus Hailstork: Yuhwa or Flute Set
   • Ulysses Kay: Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute (1943)
   • Chen Yi: Memory
6. Orchestral excerpts:
   
   • Brahms: 4th Symphony, 4th movement solo
   • Beethoven: Leonore Overture, Allegro solo
   • One of the following: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf, 1st solo only; Stravinsky: Petrushka, opening solo; Stravinsky: Firebird; or Mendelssohn: Scherzo
   • One of your choice

At least one piece from 1, 2, 3, or 4 must be performed by memory.

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers. If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. A movement from a Bach suite
2. Two pieces in varying styles (Renaissance, Classical, Romantic, Modern) from the classical guitar repertoire

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. A work of the classical period
2. A 19th-century composition
3. A 20th- or 21st-century composition

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

Bachelor's applicants in percussion and timpani must be prepared with the following:

Snare Drum

• Long roll
• Double-stroke roll
• One solo by Delécluse, Cirone, Pratt, Wilcoxon, or a similar composer

Keyboard Percussion

• One two-mallet solo
• One four-mallet solo

Timpani

• Tune intervals fluently
• One solo by Hochrainer, Firth, Hinger, or a similar composer

Prescreening
All applicants for the piano concentration must submit a preliminary audition video recording. On the basis of this prescreening, they may be invited to submit the required final audition. The prescreening requirement will be waived for piano applicants currently enrolled in a degree program at Mannes.

The prescreening audition must include the following repertoire only:

1. A prelude and fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier or two contrasting movements from a keyboard suite by J.S. Bach.
2. A sonata by either Mozart or Beethoven (excluding Beethoven op. 49 and 79). A sonata by Haydn (except juvenilia) or Schubert may be substituted.
3. A large-scale 19th-century solo piece (not a concerto).

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

All pieces must be performed from memory.

Final Audition
Applicants invited to a final audition are encouraged to audition on campus with the listed repertoire. If unable to travel to NYC, applicants are welcome to upload new or updated video recordings, so that their portfolio fulfills the following requirements:

1. A prelude and fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier or two contrasting movements from a keyboard suite by J.S. Bach.
2. A sonata of either Mozart or Beethoven (excluding Beethoven op. 49 and 79). A sonata of Haydn (except juvenilia) or Schubert may be substituted.
3. A large-scale 19th-century solo piece (not a concerto).
4. A 20th- or 21st-century solo piece (not a concerto). An original composition or arrangement by the auditionee may be substituted.

All pieces must be performed from memory.

The audition process for the BM in Music Theory helps applicants learn more about the Music Theory major and allows the Theory faculty to learn more about applicants’ qualifications, interests, and suitability for the program.

The audition process consists of the following: 

• Written tests in fundamentals, harmony, counterpoint, and dictation   
• A Musicianship interview that assesses sight-singing   
• A Keyboard Skills test  
• A Theory interview with Theory faculty members

In their written tests and interviews applicants should demonstrate:

• A firm knowledge of fundamentals (scales, intervals, chords)
• Their level of knowledge of voice leading and harmony and their understanding of counterpoint, if they have studied it 
• Skill in melodic and harmonic dictation and in sight-singing

Applicants must include a brief statement (100 to 200 words) explaining what inspires their interest in music theory. The applicant will discuss this statement with the faculty in the Theory interview.

In the BM Theory Major program, students receive two years of private piano lessons and take several upper-level courses that require piano skills. At the Keyboard Skills interview, Theory faculty members evaluate the applicant's level of skill and discuss an effective course of piano study. Applicants who have already engaged in basic study of piano should prepare a simple two-voice piece or a Bach chorale to play at the interview. Those with advanced skills should bring a piece or pieces that demonstrate their playing abilities, such as a Haydn or Beethoven sonata, a work by Chopin, or a piece from a more contemporary repertoire. Email [email protected] if you have questions and would like to be connected with faculty.

At the Theory interview, applicants will meet with members of the Theory faculty to discuss their interest in music theory, their career goals, and their musical background. In addition, faculty members will answer applicants’ questions about the program.

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Two contrasting études
2. A concerto or solo piece with piano
3. Orchestral excerpts
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. Études by Kreutzer-Blumenau, Sitt, or Compagnoli
2. Two movements from a Bach solo suite (cello transcription)
3. Two movements from a concerto or sonata chosen by the applicant
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee

Alternatively, applicants may submit a recorded program of 10 to 20 minutes of music in total that includes selected portions of three contrasting works.

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

1. The first movement from any standard concerto with applicable cadenza.
2. Two contrasting movements of an unaccompanied Bach sonata or partita. (Do not take repeats. In the B Minor partita, a dance movement and its "double" count as one movement.)
3. A virtuoso concert piece by composers such as Paganini, Sarasate, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, or Ysaÿe (any works not written for solo violin must be performed with accompaniment).
4. Optional: A contemporary work written after 1970, including an original composition or arrangement by auditionee.

All pieces must be performed from memory except contemporary works (composed since 1970).

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

Prescreening
All applicants for the voice concentration must submit a prescreening audition video. On the basis of this prescreening, they may be invited to a live audition or submit the required final video audition. The prescreening requirement will be waived for voice applicants currently enrolled in a degree program at Mannes.

The prescreening should be up to 30 minutes in duration and must consist of three works of contrasting style and language, as listed below:

1. An Italian composition of the 17th or 18th century
2. An art song in German or French
3. An aria or art song in English

We encourage applicants to include a contemporary piece written after 1970, which may be an original composition or arrangement by the auditionee.

Optional: An aria from an opera or oratorio of the applicant's choice, sung in the original language.

Mannes encourages the performance of music of our time and the works of BIPOC, women, and gender-nonconforming composers.

Note: If you wish to discuss your selected repertoire with us, please email us at [email protected].

Final Round
Applicants invited to the final round are encouraged to audition on campus. If they are unable to travel to NYC, they are welcome to upload additional video recordings that meet the previously stated repertoire requirements from the prescreening round.