School of Music Audition Day Info

Most auditions are held at the School of Music, which is located in the College of Fine Arts building at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Check out this map for directions.

Metered street parking is available along Commonwealth Avenue and directly outside the building. However, street parking may be limited depending on the time of day. We recommend visitors park in the Agganis Arena Parking Garage, which is located just a block away from the School of Music.

Using the MBTA is a great alternative to driving and parking. There is a “T” Green Line stop conveniently located in front of the CFA building.

Welcome to BU! Enter the College of Fine Arts through the main entrance at 855 Commonwealth Avenue (down the walkway under the 855 arch); our bright red check-in table will be in front of the CFA Concert Hall. Check-in opens at 8:00am. We ask that applicants check in at least 45 minutes prior to their first assessment (either the live audition or the Music Education interview).

Hey, warming up is important! The School of Music provides warm-up space for all applicants who are on campus to audition. There are 119 sound-proof, renovated practice rooms in the basement of the School of Music that will be open and accessible to applicants on Audition Day. Warm-up times are not assigned.

No pre-registration is required for any of the following Audition Day events – please feel free to drop on in! On Audition Days, we offer tours of the School of Music, led by a current undergraduate music student.

Info Session and Meet & Greet: Mr. Zachary Schwartz, Director of Admissions of the School of Music
11:00 am | CFA Concert Hall

School of Music Tour
11:30 am | leaving from Meet & Greet, CFA Concert Hall

Director’s Welcome: Dr. Gregory Melchor-Barz, Director of the School of Music
2:30 pm | School of Music, CFA 216

School of Music Tour and Information Session
3:00 pm | leaving from Director’s Welcome, School of Music, CFA 216

*Tour times are subject to change

If you’d like to, undergraduate composition applicants have the opportunity to meet with a faculty member on Audition Day. These information sessions are optional, but a great way to learn more about the composition program and get your questions answered. To learn more about meeting with a member of the Composition faculty, please contact Martin Amlin, Chair of Composition & Theory, at mamlin@bu.edu.

Graduate composition applicants should bring a hard copy of their portfolio to the interview. A short piano and ear training exam may be part of the interview as well.

Undergraduate Music Education applicants will have a short interview with members of the Music Education faculty on Audition Day. Specific times for these interviews will be sent out with final confirmations before your scheduled audition.

We do not administer any placement or assessment examinations on audition days – hooray! Placement exams for music theory and aural skills are administered during New Student Orientation in the summer, prior to the start of classes.

We recognize that life happens and scheduling conflicts can occur when coordinating audition dates with multiple schools. If you need to reschedule your audition, please send an email to the School of Music Admissions office as soon as possible at cfamusic@bu.edu. Due to a large number of applicants, we cannot guarantee that all audition date change requests will be possible, but we will do our best.

For voice, violin, viola, and cello auditions in Boston, accompanists are required and will be automatically provided.  All other auditions are unaccompanied.

Applicants should bring a bound piano score (not single-page photocopies) to the audition. This can be from a book, a separately bound copy, or double-sided music in a binder. It is not necessary to send scores in advance or to have original copies.

Applicants may use their own accompanist and do not need to notify us in advance.

Rehearsal time with accompanists prior to the audition is not permitted; you may give instructions to the accompanist before the audition begins or before each piece.

There is no accompanist fee.

The accompanist policy does not apply to those auditioning for Artist Diploma. 

If you miss your audition and don’t get a chance to notify the School of Music Admissions office in advance, we will not be able to reschedule your scheduled audition. However, you can submit a final recorded audition through our Online Portal, Acceptd.

If there’s inclement weather (we’re looking at you, New England) and you’re unable to attend a scheduled audition, we will make every attempt to reschedule the audition to another day or time. However, we cannot guarantee that an audition space will be available; in which case, a video-recorded audition may be uploaded to our Online Portal, Acceptd.

We’ve compiled a list of hotels close to CFA in commuting, driving, or walking distance:

• Hotel Commonwealth | 7-minute drive; 10 minutes on the T (Green B Line); 20-minute walk
• Courtyard by Marriott Boston Cambridge | 6-minute drive; 15-minute walk
• Hyatt Regency Cambridge | 5-minute drive; 15-minute walk
• Sheraton Boston Hotel | 13-minute drive; 23 minutes on the T (Green B Line); 40-minute walk

We recognize the days leading up to Audition Day can be filled with anxious thoughts, but, please, enjoy yourselves while you’re here in Boston (especially if it’s your first time in Beantown)!

At CFA, we always have events going on. Free and open to the general public. From concerts to gallery exhibitions, check out our CFA Events Calendar to make the most out of your travels.

The University’s digital newspaper, BU Today, has a series called The Weekender where they list the top things to do in Boston. There’s so much to see and do here!