Music auditions

Auditions will be held during the Jump Start Visit Days in July and during the Weekend of Welcome in August. If you are planning on attending one of the Jump Start Visit Days on Monday, July 21 or Monday, July 28, you will be able to sign up for a time for your audition when you arrive. Be sure to bring your instrument with you.

Auditions before the Weekend of Welcome will be held on Thursday, August 21. Students who sign up for an audition will be allowed to move into their dorms on Thursday after 12:00 noon. Parents will need to stay for Friday’s Weekend of Welcome orientation.

Please note: In order to schedule an audition time, you must return an ensemble audition information form (return the completed final page) to the music department. Please note the July 25 deadline for the information sheet. When we receive this information sheet we will inform you of your audition time.

Students auditioning for Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Brass Ensemble need to prepare materials in advance. See the instrumental audition information with details for these auditions. Please note that auditions for other ensembles do not require prepared materials.

Audition results are generally posted during the weekend before classes begin. After being accepted into a particular ensemble, you will need to add it to your academic schedule. Ensembles may be taken for either credit or audit. (Please note: Music majors should consult the catalog to determine whether your program requires you to take ensembles for credit.)

Private lessons

The Department of Music offers instruction to all students, regardless of major, in voice, organ, piano, guitar, percussion, and all major woodwind, brass, and string instruments. Lessons are offered for one or two credits to music majors and for one credit to non-music majors. In order to help you register for the correct level of study, we ask that you contact the music office to register for a placement exam. This is a time when you will meet with one of our faculty members, perform for them, and they will then help you register for the appropriate level. If you have never studied privately on the instrument of your choice, you should automatically register for the beginning level. Private lessons must be taken for credit (they cannot be audited) and have a course fee of $140 per credit hour. Beginning piano, voice and guitar classes (taught in group format) are exempt form this fee.

Information for Music Majors

Students who will be majoring in music (this includes in the education program with a music endorsement) should register for private lessons on their principal instrument, an ensemble applicable to their program (note that the BME program requires two ensembles), MU102 (Aural Skills I) and MU103 (Music Theory I).

In order to be fully prepared for Music Theory I, it is important that all students have a firm understanding of basic concepts of music theory. If you have not yet taken our music theory placement test or received information about ways in which you can review this basic material during the summer months, please contact the music office