Bienen School of Music - Northwestern
University
Strings Audition Information
Violin
Prescreening
required: must be video recording
For Prescreening:
Memorization
is required.
- One movement from a Bach sonata or partita
- First movement of a standard concerto
For Final Audition:
Memorization
is required.
- Two contrasting movements from a Bach sonata
or partita
- First movement of a standard concerto
- One etude or caprice
Viola
Prescreening
required: must be video recording
For Prescreening:
- The exposition or equivalent of the first
movement of any major viola concerto
- The prelude of a solo suite or first
movement of any sonata or partita by Bach
For Final Audition:
- Two contrasting movements of any solo suite,
sontata, or partita by Bach
- Complete first movement of any major
concerto
Cello
Prescreening
required: must be video recording
For Prescreening:
- One étude by Popper or one caprice by Piatti
- One movement from a Bach Suite
- The exposition from a standard cello
concerto
For Final Audition:
- One étude by Popper and one caprice by
Piatti OR two by either composer
- Two contrasting movements from a Bach Suite
- One movement from a standard cello concerto
such as Boccherini, Haydn, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, or
Shostakovich
Double Bass
For Final Audition:
- Two contrasting solo pieces
- Choose a total of three
orchestral excerpts from:
- Mozart (Symphony 35, 39, and/or
40)
- Beethoven (Symphony 3,5,7,9)
- Brahms (Symphony 1 and/or 2)
- Strauss (any standard orchestral
work)
In
addition: One major scale, one harmonic minor scale, and one natural minor
scale of choice, in two or three octaves
Note:
Sight-reading and memorization are not required
Harp
For Final Audition:
- One technical etude such as Bochsa, Pozzoli
or Schmidt
- One orchestral excerpt or cadenza such as
Nutcracker Cadenza, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, or Rimsky-Korsakov
Capriccio Espagnole
- Two contrasting solos (examples include
Grandjany Fantasy, Salzedo Chanson dans la Nuit, Prokofiev Prelude in C,
Tournier Etude de Concert)
Updated on 09/05/2018