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Hello all,
on the Curtis website it says that an applicant will play 2 contrasting etudes, the first movement of the vaughn williams tuba concerto, the first movement of the arnold brass quintet and orchestra excerpts that include Prokofiev, Mahler and Berlioz. The excerpt portion confused me last year as i put excerpts only from the three composers and now as i'm putting the final touches to my audition rep list i'm interpreting this as excerpts of various composers but must include the three (such as bruckner, stravinsky and the other three for example). would it be wrong to assume this? for instance, the list is:
Hungarian March - Berlioz
Symphony No. 5 - Prokofiev
Symphony No. 1 and/or 7 - Mahler
Symphony No. 4 - Bruckner
Petrouchka - Stravinsky
An American in Paris - Gershwin

now would this be acceptable in sticking to the guidlines or does it have to be ONLY the three required? thanks for the help guys and gals.

I would advise to have them all prepared. It never hurts to be over-prepared either and you don't know what they will want to hear. Chances are you might not play all the excerpts but you should have them ready just in case. Good luck, I'm sure you'll play well!

jb

now what exactly do you mean by "have them all ready"? I'm trying to figure out what the majority of my excerpts should be; whether or not it should JUST be mahler, prokofiev and berlioz or excertas that INCLUDE the three. thanks though. last year they didn't ask all of them either.

Sorry... I misunderstood. I thought that was the required list. 3-5 excerpts is pretty standard. Perhaps consult with your teacher and use what you play well- musically, technical, etc...

good luck
jb

Look at the wording of the audition requirements for other instruments:

trombone - "at least two orchestral excerpts of contrasting style," i.e. prepare everything on the list: the audition committee will tell you which ones to play at the time of your audition;

horn - "the last movement of Brahms's Symphony No. 1, Mendelssohn's “Nocturneâ€

As a 1985 graduate of the Curtis Institiute and someone who has played professionally for the past 20 years, I would like to interject that the folks that will be listening to you will be able to tell if you have talent within the first 30 seconds of your performance. I think I can remember that I played Hungarian March, King Lear Overture, Prokofiev 5, Ride of the Valkyries and the VW Concerto and did it all on a 4 valve Cerveny Piggy (with a sore throat). Don't try to second guess yourself. Choose a repertoire that suits you best.

If you plan on going, be determined to play great music and do it to your best ability. That's all that counts!

-Matt