Cali School Auditions

Instrumental & Vocal Performance

Undergraduate BMus and Instrumental AD & MM

• Formal audition on a primary instrument or voice - following our classical repertoire requirements

Graduate Voice AD & MM

• Pre-screen videos are required. Further information for pre-screen requirements can be found under the Pre-Screen Information page
• An invited, formal voice audition will be required pending successful review of your pre-screen videos

(MM) Graduate Voice only

• Pre-screen videos are required. Further information for pre-screen requirements can be found under the Pre-Screen Information Page
• An invited, formal voice audition will be required pending successful review of your pre-screen videos
• An interview may be required and will be completed as part of the invited audition process

Undergraduate (BMus) & Post Baccalaureate

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice
• Complete an interview with a member of our music education faculty

Undergraduate applicants may choose between our Classical Education track, or our Jazz + Education track:
Classical Education applicants will follow the requirements above, along with the classical repertoire outlined for your primary instrument or voice.
Jazz + Music Education applicants will follow the requirements above, along with the Jazz repertoire outlined for your primary instrument or voice.

All undergraduate applicants must choose “School & Community Settings” as your program of choice on your application. Once you are ready to register for an audition, you will be given the option to designate either the Classical Education track, or the Jazz + Education track on the required audition form.

Graduate

Master of Arts in Teaching Certification (MAT) and Master of Arts (MA) applicants do not have to audition. However, they must contact Dr. Marissa Silverman via email to schedule an interview, once their application is submitted.

Dr. Marissa Silverman (Graduate Music Education Coordinator) – silvermanm@montclair.edu

Undergraduate (BA)

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice
• Complete an interview with a member of our music therapy faculty. During the interview, you will be required to complete a self-accompaniment performance:
  • Sing one (1) song from any genre of music while self-accompanying on your choice of piano or guitar. Use of basic block chords is fully acceptable. Precise written accompaniments are not required.

Undergraduate applicants are permitted to audition following our classical repertoire requirements, or our jazz repertoire requirements:
Classical: applicants will completed the requirements above following the classical repertoire outlined for your primary instrument or voice.
Jazz: applicants will complete the requirements above, following the jazz repertoire outlined for your primary instrument or voice.

Graduate (MA)

• Graduate applicants do not have to complete a formal audition. Instead, graduate applicants must schedule an interview, during which you will be required to complete a self-accompaniment performance, as follows:
  • Sing two (2) songs from any genre of music while self-accompanying – one song on guitar & one song on piano. Use of basic block chords is fully acceptable. Precise written accompaniments are not required. Please pre-record each song as a video and submit them to your application portal. Or you may share the videos via email when scheduling your interview.

To schedule an interview, graduates must send an email to Dr. Brian Abrams at abramsb@montclair.edu

Undergraduate (BMus) & Graduate (MA)

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice
• Complete an interview with a member of the composition faculty
• Prepare a portfolio for review that includes the following:
  • A minimum of three (3) original creative works in any genre – contemporary, classical, jazz, songwriting, musical theater, electronic music, media scoring, etc. Include scores and/or recordings as applicable. When submitting music for acoustic instruments or voice, recordings with live musicians are preferred. If live musicians are not available, purely electronic versions (e.g. MIDI) are acceptable.

Jazz Studies (BMus)

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice – following the jazz repertoire requirements

Jazz and Education (BMus)

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice – following our  jazz repertoire requirements
• Complete an interview with a member of our Music Education faculty

Note: When submitting your application, you must select “School & Community Settings” as your major of choice. You will then specify you are a Jazz + Education major on your audition registration form.

Jazz and Music Therapy (BA)

• Audition on a primary instrument or voice – following our jazz repertoire requirements
• Complete an interview with a member of our Music Therapy faculty. During the interview, you will be required to complete a self-accompaniment performance, as follows:
  • Sing one (1) song from any genre of music while self-accompanying on your choice of piano or guitar. Use of basic block chords is fully acceptable. Precise written accompaniment is not required

Undergraduate (BA) only

• Complete an interview with a member of the Recording Arts & Production faculty
• Prepare a portfolio that demonstrates your musicality and showcases your current abilities. The portfolio should include at least two (2) of any of the following projects:
  • A performance on a music instrument, vocals, hardware (ex. push controller), audio projects, sound design, cover songs, original songs, or beat making examples. You may perform/include any songs or repertoire of your choice.The components that make up your portfolio must be organized into either a YouTube playlist, or a Google Drive folder. You will be required to submit the link to your portfolio on the audition registration form. Please ensure that the share settings for your portfolio are set to “anyone with the link can view.”

Note: RA&P applicants do not have to complete a formal/classical audition. Your audition consists only the interview and portfolio mentioned above. RA&P applicants are required to follow the same audition registration and scheduling steps outlined for all applicants in order to mark your audition as complete and guarantee an interview & review of your materials.

Questions regarding the requirements or portfolio materials can be sent to Dr. Bryan Powell at powellb@montclair.edu

Live Audition - applicants will complete an in-person audition on campus. You may choose your audition date, but the time of your audition will be scheduled for you. Your schedule will be emailed to you about one (1) week prior to your chosen audition date. If an interview is required for your major, it will be included in your audition schedule.

Preparing for your Live Audition

Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email that includes details for attending your audition. Please refer to that email & the information below to ensure you are fully prepared.

• Review the program requirements and make sure you have prepared all that is listed, including any additional interview or portfolio materials specific to your major of choice.
• Prepare extra copies of your music. Instrumentalists – please bring 1 spare copy of your music should faculty wish to review. Vocalists – your repertoire must be memorized, but please bring a prepared binder (ipad is also acceptable) with at least 1 copy of your music for our accompanist.
• Attire: We invite you to wear what you are most comfortable in, what is most accessible to you, and what makes you feel like you are putting your best foot forward during your audition day.
• There are no additional events planned for the audition days (tours, group info sessions, placement tests). We will have a waiting area with light snacks and water available, as well as student ambassadors and faculty present, should you wish to ask questions or mingle with current students. Placement tests will be given only after you have been offered admission.

Video Audition – applicants must video record the required audition repertoire and submit the videos as links. It is preferred that applicants organize all of their audition video files into a single YouTube playlist or Google Drive folder with share settings set to "anyone with the link can view." If an interview is required for your major, you will be scheduled for a zoom call on your chosen audition date. You must have your videos ready at the time you submit your audition registration form. You will not be able to submit your form without the videos.

Recording Guidelines

• Make sure you are in a quiet, well-lit space and briefly introduce each song. You may record your music solo, with a backing track, or with an accompanist. If you use an accompanist or track, please check that your playing/singing is heard clearly in the video and is not overpowered.
• Please make sure that you are framed correctly. Vocalists – at minimum, we must see you from the waist up. Instrumentalists – we must see your face, and all aspects of your playing (hands & instrument).
• All scale requirements should be recorded in one video or edited into one video file. Repertoire can be recorded & submitted individually.
• Be mindful to double check that you have recorded all of the required repertoire for your primary instrument or voice. Any applicants with missing or incorrect repertoire will not be reviewed until all requirements are submitted correctly.

Submitting Videos

• "Your audition videos must be submitted as part of your audition registration form. This means you need to have your videos completed and ready to upload before you submit your registration. Important: Your videos are due by the registration deadline, not by your audition date. Please be sure to plan ahead so you can submit both your registration and videos on time.