AUDITION INFORMATION FOR 2024-2025
An audition is required of all students who wish to become a music major at UNH, including incoming first-year students, transfer students, and continuing students. This audition identifies your qualifications; it does not commit you to a degree in music.
An Application to the unh music department requires two parts:
- Submission of an application to the University through the Common Application. This must be completed by February 1, 2025.
- Completion of an audition for the Music Department faculty. Auditions must be scheduled directly with the Music Department at least two weeks before the desired audition date. The Music Liberal Studies and Composition degree options require additional application materials, described below. These must be completed by March 1, 2025.
An application is not considered complete until both steps are finished. Applications to become a music major will be processed by UNH Admissions only after the Music Department sends them the results of the audition or interview process.
IMPORTANT: Our audition process has changed for 2024-2025. Please read the following information carefully.
Audition Dates for 2024-2025
Saturday, November 2, 2024 Please schedule this date if you are applying early action.
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Saturday, February 22, 2025
ALL APPLICANTS MUST ATTEND ONE OF THE ABOVE DATES FOR AN IN-PERSON AUDITION. Those travelling from outside the New England or Tri-State area may contact music.info@unh.edu if this requirement creates an undue burden.
With nearly 25 applied faculty members, not all applied instructors can be at every audition date. Therefore, auditions will be held in front of a small and friendly panel of faculty members. To ensure that your audition will be evaluated by the applied faculty member in your area, ALL AUDITIONS WILL BE VIDEO RECORDED by the UNH Music Department, exclusively for review by that faculty member if they are not present. Students may opt out of having their audition recorded but would then not be eligible for a scholarship unless they come to campus for an in-person visit and sample lesson with the applied faculty in their area of specialty. Please contact music.info@unh.edu to schedule a visit day.
The audition for the music department also serves as the audition for a music merit scholarship. Click below to learn more about music merit scholarships and financial aid.
MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID
The UNH Admissions office will award academic merit scholarships (Presidential, Dean’s, Director’s scholarships, etc.) to both NH resident and non-resident students with an outstanding academic record. These awards are renewable for up to four academic years (8 semesters), provided the student maintains an acceptable GPA.
These scholarships are administered directly by the UNH Music Department and are based largely upon the quality of the student’s audition. The department also considers the student’s instrument or vocal type, and the department’s needs in that area. These are awarded to both NH residents and non-residents, and are also renewable for up to four academic years (8 semesters) provided the student maintains an acceptable GPA and other requirements stated in the award letter.
Students from the Greater Manchester, NH area (i.e. Manchester, Amherst, Auburn, Bedford, Candia, Derry, Goffstown, Hooksett, Litchfield, Londonderry, and Merrimack), are eligible for additional scholarship funds from the Smyth Trust of Manchester, NH. Applications must be submitted directly to the Smyth Trust by the student’s family. These scholarships are not granted by the university, and the UNH Music Department cannot apply for any student. Visit the Frederick Smyth Institute of Music website for the application form and contact information.
The University has a large amount of financial aid available, much of which is granted based on financial need. To qualify for need-based financial aid, students and parents must fill out a FAFSA (Federal Application for Financial Aid). We strongly recommend that all students fill out a FAFSA as early as October 1, 2024, but no later than March 1, 2025. The FAFSA form is available https://studentaid.gov.
After a student is admitted to UNH, the University’s Financial Aid Office will develop an “aid package” which often involves scholarship aid, grants, work study, and loans. In calculating need, the university uses an estimate of the student’s total expenses for the year, not simply tuition expenses. It is therefore possible to receive both a generous four-year merit/talent scholarship from the music department and still qualify for university need-based financial aid.
NOTE: Both academic and music merit scholarships may affect your total financial aid package. If you receive a financial award package from UNH prior to a notification of a music merit scholarship award, that financial aid package may change. In general, you may find that a music scholarship reduces your need-based aid (guaranteed loans and work-study). Music scholarships will not reduce your other merit scholarship awards.
Remember: Your financial aid package will not be developed until after you have been admitted to UNH and your completed FAFSA form has been processed by the federal Department of Education.
For further information about financial aid and scholarships, please contact:
UNH Financial Aid Music Department Scholarships
Financial Aid Office Adam Gallant
Stoke Hall Paul Creative Arts Center
University of New Hampshire 30 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824 Durham, NH 03824
603-862-3600 603-862-0685
financial.aid@unh.edu Adam.Gallant@unh.edu
Scheduling Your Audition
All applicants must register for an audition. There are no drop-in auditions.
When completing the following form, you will be asked to select your desired audition date. Your precise audition time will be emailed to you about one week prior to the audition. We strongly encourage all applicants to select one of the earlier available dates.
Saturday, November 2, 2024 (Suggested date for early action applicants)
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Saturday, February 22, 2025
If UNH closes due to extreme weather (called "curtailed operations"), auditions will not be held. If you are traveling from some distance, it is advisable to monitor the weather forecast and UNH Alert and Storm Information website.
Audition Requirements to Major in Music
All applicants must complete an audition. Music Liberal Studies and Composition degree students should also submit the supplemental materials described here. (No other music degree programs require supplemental materials.)
Students are required to submit a writing sample and interview with one of the music liberal studies program faculty members. The writing sample should be non-fiction, preferably an assignment for a course in English, History, or a similar subject, 500 words or more in length in addition to an audition on their major instrument.
Composition study at UNH is limited primarily (but not exclusively) to instruction in the composition of concert music (or classical music, as it’s sometimes called). To be considered for admission, students should submit a portfolio containing scores of at least three varied works for different groups of instruments or voices (for instance, a song for voice and piano, quartet, and large ensemble piece). Please also submit mp3 recordings of the same, even if they are mock-ups produced through a music notation software. Works created solely within a DAW or similar software will be considered.
Please mail documents to:
UNH Department of Music
M204
Paul Creative Arts Center
30 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824
You may also convert your scores to PDF format and email to music.info@unh.edu
Click the name of your instrument name or voice type in the list below to see your requirements. Unless specified, music education and performance majors have identical audition requirements.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Demonstrate playing proficiency of major scales and sight reading.
All cellists: Demonstrate proficiency of all major and melodic minor scales, as well as sight-reading.
Performance majors: Prepare one etude by Popper, Piatti, Kummer, Lee, Duport, Schroeder or Dotzauer; two additional movements from different historical eras that demonstrate contrasting styles.
Music Education majors: Prepare a total of two movements from different historical eras that demonstrate contrasting styles, one of which may be an etude by Popper, Piatti, Kummer, Lee, Duport, Schroeder or Dotzauer.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Demonstrate playing proficiency of major scales and sight reading.
Music education, composition, and music liberal studies candidates, whose principal instrument is Classical Guitar, should prepare 2 pieces of contrasting style, not memorized; demonstrate scale proficiency (at least 2 octaves - one major, one minor); and sight reading.
B.A. performance candidates in Classical Guitar should, at a minimum, prepare 3 pieces of contrasting style, one of which should be from memory; demonstrate scale proficiency (at least 2 octaves - one major, one minor); and sight reading.
B.M. performance candidates in Classical Guitar should prepare, at a minimum, 4 pieces of contrasting style, three of which should be from memory; demonstrate scale proficiency (at least 2 octaves - one major, one minor); and sight reading.
Demonstrate playing proficiency of all major and melodic minor scales in two octaves, two and four notes per bow. Prepare two bowed pieces – one etude and one solo piece.
Students interested in Jazz Bass should choose a piece from the standard jazz repertoire and be prepared to play the melody, an improvised bass line, and an improvised solo.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Proficiency with major scales expected.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Demonstrate playing proficiency of major scales and sight reading.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Demonstrate playing proficiency of major scales and sight reading.
Anyone who wants to major in music on jazz guitar must prepare:
- Solo Guitar Piece (classical, jazz, pop or original arrangement)
- A jazz standard or blues progression with play-along tracks from the Jamey Aebersold Series ,available at http://www.jazzbooks.com/jazz/category/digital), or iReal Pro app (https://irealpro.com/). Prepare at least one chorus each of melody, solo improvisation, and chord voicings.
- Student's Choice. Any song that best represents the student's instrumental abilities and musicality. Any musical style.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Demonstrate playing proficiency of major scales and sight reading.
- Bring your own sticks
- Prepare a snare drum solo
Suggested studies:
Cirone - Portraits in Rhythm
Whaley - Recital Solos for Snare Drum
Goldenberg - School for Snare Drum (5/8 Etude)
OR a solo of your choice of equivalent difficulty - Prepare a timpani solo
Suggested studies:
Goodman - Modern Method for Timpani (Pages 48-68) Selected Studies
Firth - Solo Timpanist, Etude No. 1
Beck - Sonatina for Timpani
OR solo of equivalent difficulty - Mallets
Basic knowledge of major scales
Prepared solo
Suggested studies:
McMillian - Masterpieces for Marimba
Optional Requirements
- Drumset
Demonstrate styles:
Swing (slow, med, fast)
Latin (Samba, Bossa Nova)
Funk
Rock
Music education, composition, and music liberal studies candidates whose principal instrument is piano should prepare 2 pieces (or movements) of contrasting style, one of which must be a work by J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven—memorization optional; demonstrate scale proficiency (all major scales, 2 octaves, hands together; and demonstrate sight reading.
B.A. performance candidates in piano should prepare 3 pieces (or movements) of contrasting styles (at least one of which needs to be memorized) chosen from three of the following:
- A work or movement by J.S. Bach
- A work or movement by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven
- A work by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Scriabin, or Rachmaninoff
- A work by Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Prokofiev, or a composer born after 1900
Candidates should demonstrate scale proficiency (all major and harmonic minor scales, 2 octaves, hands together) and sight reading.
B.M. performance candidates in piano should prepare 4 pieces (or movements) of contrasting styles, three of which should be memorized, to be chosen from each of the following:
- A work or a group of works by J.S. Bach: any two Inventions, any one Sinfonia, any substantial movement from a suite, or any complete Prelude and Fugue from the Well-tempered Clavier
- A fast first movement from any sonata by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven
- A work or a group of works by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Scriabin, or Rachmaninoff
- A work or a group of works by Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Prokofiev, or a composer born after 1900
Candidates should demonstrate scale proficiency (all major and harmonic minor scales, 4 octaves, hands together) and sight reading.
Students auditioning for entrance into the program are asked to perform two contrasting pieces. Auditionees should choose music that displays a high level of performance ability and also a high degree of musicality.
Students may choose a piece of standard saxophone solo repertoire such as Glazunov Concerto, Creston Sonata, Maurice Tableau de Provence, etc.; or perform both a lyrical and technical etude from a source such as the H. Voxman Selected Studies or Ferling 48 Etudes. In addition, students will be asked to play full range major scales and to sight read a short excerpt.
Students are also encouraged to play jazz and/or commercial music in the audition. Contrasting pieces (different tempos and/or styles) can be chosen from the American Songbook, jazz standards, or other relevant sources. Students should be prepared to perform the melody and improvise.
The audition can be played on any saxophone but alto and tenor are preferred.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Proficiency with major scales expected.
Prepare two pieces of contrasting style, one should be lyrical (ex. 2nd movement of Haydn trumpet concerto) and the other should demonstrate the more technical side. Contrasting sections of an extended piece is acceptable. In addition to demonstrating proficiency with major scales, be prepared to play a chromatic scale.
Prepare two contrasting pieces (or movements). Proficiency with major scales expected.
One scale and corresponding arpeggio of your choice (3 octaves preferred).
Two contrasting solo or accompanied pieces that best reflect your current musical and technical proficiency.
Sight-reading may be requested.
One scale and corresponding arpeggio of your choice (3 octaves preferred).
Two contrasting solo or accompanied pieces that best reflect your current musical and technical proficiency.
Sight-reading may be requested.
1 Italian aria, preferably from the 24 Italian Songs & Arias of the 17th & 18th Century anthology, and 1 English Art Song. Both selections should be memorized. Be prepared to sight read, sing scales (major keys only), and sing back 3 and 4 note patterns.
