Audition Information | New England Conservatory

Woodwinds Audition Information

Prescreening portfolios are required of:

• All Composition and Jazz Composition applicants

Prescreening video recordings are required of:

• All Artist Diploma and DMA applicants, regardless of major
• All undergraduate, MM, and GD applicants to:

Bassoon (MM & GD)

Audition Requirements;

1. Two contrasting movements from a Baroque or Classical sonata, concerto, or unaccompanied piece (or a one-movement work in its entirety)
2. Two contrasting movements from a Romantic or early 20th-century sonata, concerto, or unaccompanied piece (or a one-movement work in its entirety)
3. Two contrasting movements from a post-1950 sonata, concerto, or unaccompanied piece (or a one-movement work in its entirety)
4. Four orchestral excerpts of your choice

Clarinet (MM & GD)

Prescreen Requirements;

1. One etude from Rose 32 Etudes
2. Mozart Concerto, K.622, first movement exposition with piano accompaniment
3. Beethoven Symphony No.6, second movement: from one bar before D through two bars before E (mm. 68 through 77)
4. Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scherzo): beginning to bar 48

Audition Requirements;

1. Two Etudes from Rose 32 Etudes (Carl Fischer edition):
   • One slow etude from the following: 1, 11, 13, 19, 21, or 31
   • One fast etude from the following: 10, 16, 20, or 24
    
2. One of the following solos in its entirety:
   • Mozart Concerto, K.622
   • Weber Concerto No.1
   • Weber Concerto No.2
   • Debussy First Rhapsody
   • Nielsen Concerto
    
3. One 20th or 21st century unaccompanied solo in its entirety, such as:
   • Leslie Bassett Soliloquies
   • Luciano Berio Sequenza IX
   • Elliott Carter Gra
   • Libby Larsen Dancing Solo
   • Donald Martino A Set for Clarinet
   • Olivier Messiaen Abyss of the Birds
   • Shulamit Ran For an Actor
   • William O. Smith Five Pieces
   • Igor Stravinsky Three Pieces
   • Joan Tower Wings
    
4. All six of the following orchestral selections:
   Beethoven Symphony No.6:
   first movement: two bars before K to end of solo (mm. 474 to end of solo)
   second movement: from one bar before D through two bars before E (mm. 68 through 77)
   Kodaly Dances of Galanta:
   measures 31 through 65
   measures 571 through 578
   Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream (Scherzo):
   beginning to bar 48
   measures 145 to 157
   Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf:
   Cadenza
   Ravel Daphnis and Chloe (Suite No.2):
   second bar after 155 through three bars after 157
   third bar after 212 to end
   Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol:
   first movement: from letter A to letter B
   letter C to the 15th bar after letter C

Flute (MM & GD)

Prescreen Requirements;

1. Mozart - Exposition of 1st and 2nd movements of the Concerto in G or D Major
2. Contrasting piece of the candidate's choice
3. Orchestral Excerpts (3 total):
   A. Beethoven Leonore Overture No.3 - measures 328-360
   B. Brahms Symphony No.4, last movement - measures 93-105
   C. Mendelssohn Scherzo from Midsummer Nights Dream - 2 measures before P to the end

Audition Requirements;

1. Any sonata by J.S. Bach
2. Mozart Concerto - complete
3. Major contemporary work (complete sonata, concerto, or substantial work such as Dutilleux Sonatine, Jolivet Chant de Linos, Martin Ballade, or Sancan Sonatine)
4. Five Orchestral Excerpts displaying a variety of styles

Oboe (MM & GD)

Prescreen & Audition Requirements;

1. One slow Ferling etude, and either a fast Ferling etude or a Barrett Grand Study
    
2. One slow and one fast movement from either a Baroque or Classical concerto - applicant's choice for additional repertoire
    
3. Four excerpts chosen from the following:
   A. any Bach Cantata
   B. Beethoven Symphony No.3
   C. Brahms Symphony No.1
   D. Debussy La Mer
   E. Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
   F. Rossini La Scala di Seta
   G. Schumann Symphony No.2
   H. Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4

Applicants invited for a live audition should expect to sight-read as part of the audition.

Saxophone (MM & GD)

Prescreen & Audition Requirements;

1. Ibert Concertino da Camera (pub. Leduc), or a comparable work
    
2. Choose one of the following (or a comparable work):
   • Creston Sonata, Op.19 (pub. Shawnee); 2 contrasting mvmts
   • Dahl Concerto (pub. European American Music); 2 contrasting mvmts
   • Denisov Sonata (pub. Leduc); 2 contrasting mvmts
   • Glazounov Concerto (pub. Leduc)
   • Harbison Sonata "San Antonio" (pub. Schirmer-AMP); 2 contrasting mvmts
    
3. Two orchestral excerpts from The Orchestral Saxophonist, Vol.1 (pub. Roncorp). Suggested excerpts:
   • Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
   • Prokofiev Lieutenant Kije
   • Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances

Updated on 10/02/2018