Audition Requirements for Music Majors

Music Major Audition Guidelines

Audition Requirements: 

Prepare three (3) selections. The length of each piece should be somewhere between 2 to 12 minutes. These selections should represent the fullest sense of who you are as a musician.  

Your audition materials may be drawn from any of the following: 

• Pieces or performances that demonstrate your primary instrument or voice type in a classical, jazz, contemporary, or world music setting; solo, with accompaniment, or featuring you in an ensemble.  

• An improvisation in any style over an existing form/tune or “free.” 

• Original compositions in any genre with accompanying scores or notation if applicable. 

• Multimedia works or collaborations. 

Recorded Auditions: 

While in-person auditions are strongly encouraged, you may submit a video recorded audition if auditioning on campus is difficult. 

For performers and singer-songwriters, at least two of the work samples must be recordings of a LIVE performance by the applicant (i.e., not a produced and mixed track). 

For composers, at least one of the work samples must be a recording of a LIVE performance by the applicant (i.e., not a produced and mixed track). 

Before recording your pieces, be sure to introduce yourself and say the name and composer of the piece you’re performing. Alternatively, you can caption your video with the same information. 

In addition, for those submitting video auditions, please create and submit a 2-3 minute interview-style video response to the following prompt: 

Describe the most meaningful musical experience you have ever had. What made it so impactful for you, and how did it shape your perspective as a musician? In your response video, feel free to reflect on how this experience influences the way you connect with others through music or how it might guide your contributions to a collaborative musical community like the Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University. 

File Sizes and Naming Conventions

• Compress your files to be smaller than 4GB, if possible, for fastest uploading.
• Separate selections into individual tracks, as opposed to uploading one large file.
• Naming convention: last name_title

Recording Quality

Check the quality of both audio and video files before you upload. Is the piano accompanist too loud? Is there crowd noise that is interfering? Does the microphone accurately represent your live sound? If you are submitting a video, is what we are seeing the best way for us to interact with your music?

Audio Processing

If you have used audio processing in any part of your recording, please explain in the description area of each track what was used such as editing, reverb, digital delay, overdubbing, etc. We don’t mind you using these techniques, we’d just like you to identify them so we know what to listen for.