The applicant should be prepared to perform at least two solo works, one from memory. One of the works should include a sonata or a concert movement that demonstrates cantilena style (slow tempo, legato melodic line, sustained phrasing, singing tone quality), and the other work should demonstrate technical facility (fast tempo, variety in rhythm, correct phrasing, tone quality, finger agility). Each applicant also should be prepared to play an étude or study written expressly for his or her instrument and all scales and arpeggios that demonstrate the applicant's knowledge and command of the fingerboard. The following are examples of literature appropriate for the audition:
Movements from sonatas by Eccles, Vivaldi, Hindemith, etc.; movements of concerti by Dragonetti, Koussevitsky, Bottesini, Dittersdorf, etc.; studies and/or études by Nanny, Kreutzer, Simandl, Sturm, Ries, etc.; examples of solo literature selected from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, and Contemporary eras or music. The candidate also should be able to play any two-octave scale and arpeggio between E and A.
Applicants seeking to enter the MusM program in string performance must perform the first movement of a standard bass concerto, a movement from an unaccompanied Bach Cello suite transcribed for Bass, any solo piece of the applicant's choosing, and standard orchestral excerpts of contrasting tempi and styles. Pieces need not be memorized.
String applicants should prepare material equivalent to a master's level recital program