All applicants for admission to the undergraduate Tuba program should be prepared to perform at least two original solo works and one étude or study. Each applicant should be prepared to play two or three passages from the orchestral repertoire, and all scales and arpeggios that demonstrate the applicant's musicianship and technique. Applicants should be prepared to sight-read literature appropriate to the instrument. Auditions are to be performed without accompaniment.
Below are examples of literature appropriate for an audition. It is recommended that an applicant select works that demonstrate cantilena style (slow tempo, legato melodic lines, sustained phrasing, singing tone quality) and technical facility (fast tempo, variety in rhythm, correct phrasing, tone quality, clean articulation, etc.).
Solos should include a slow and a fast movement from works equal in difficulty to Sonatina by Boda, Suite by Hartley, etc. Études or studies involving technical problems equal to those posed by such composers as Blazhevich, Fink, Tyrrel, Knaub, or Vobaron. Orchestral repertoire such as major passages from works by Mahler, Kodály, Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, or Prokofiev.
All brass applicants must be prepared to perform three compositions, one from the Baroque or Classical periods, one from the Romantic period, and one from the Contemporary period. The candidate may also offer orchestral excerpts suitable to his or her own instrument.
All brass applicants should prepare material equivalent to a master's level recital program.