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So next year I will be getting ready to audition for music schools, namely CCM and Juilliard. would this be sufficient for a julliard or CCM audition? The Vaughn Williams concerto, the Plog tuba sonata, the Penderecki capriccio, and either the Effie suite or Plog 3 miniatures. Does this sound sufficient?

A lot of schools and teachers have a recommended/required list of things they would want to hear. Some will just want you to play something that you think shows off your talent and potential. Either way, I would contact the school and teacher for a lesson and to see what they would want to hear.

That is a lot of music for an audition. When I auditioned for Fedderly at Peabody years ago, the school stated that he wanted to hear the 6/8 section of the first movement of the VW concerto, Rochut No. 2, and the opening of Meistersinger. Now, he apparently didn't necessarily want to here those and I would have known if I had reached out to him. I didn't play those well because I didn't have that music ready before the audition and had to learn it all a couple of weeks out.

Long story short, ask them what they want to hear and give yourself the best chance possible.

Contact each school to see what rep they ask for in auditions. Also, IF POSSIBLE, if you have your heart set at these two schools, try to contact each teacher in Cleveland and NYC to maybe take a lesson this Summer with them...

1. You will have 10-12 minutes to display your talent. Choose some music that will best show your artistry and musicianship skills.
2. Have your current teacher help you choose what would be best.
3. This Board should not be used to influence your decision. Stay off of TubeNet for at least 12 months.

It will only take about 60 seconds for the faculty at both schools to assess your talent. Be the best musician you can be.

I feel like I can chime in on this topic since I've been at CCM for quite a while.

On CCM's website, there is an application and audition handbook that you can download. This handbook contains audition requirements for each degree level for tuba.

If you are planning on auditioning for the undergraduate program, here are the requirements:

Tuba - BM

- All major scales two octaves
- One etude from Fink Studies in Legato for Bass Trombone and Tuba
- One etude from Tyrell Advanced Studies for B-flat Bass
- Solo: Paul Hindemith Sonate for Tuba and Piano, mvt. 1 and cadenza from mvt. 3, or solo of comparable difficulty
- Orchestral excerpts:

Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5, movement 1
Wagner - Overture to Die Meistersinger

- Band excerpts:

Sousa - Stars and Stripes Forever
Vaughan Williams - Toccata Marziale

- Sight reading

If you are planning on auditioning for the masters program, here are the requirements:

Tuba - MM

- All major and minor scales two octaves
- One etude from Rochut Melodious Etudes
- One etude from Kopprasch Sixty Selected Studies for Tuba
- Solo: Ralph Vaughan Williams Concerto for Bass Tuba plus solos from your senior recital
- Orchestral excerpts:

Berlioz - Hungarian March
Mahler - Symphony No. 1. movement 3
Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5, movement 1
Wagner - Overture to Die Meistersinger
Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries

- Band excerpts:

Grainger - Lincolnshire Posy
Hindemith - Symphony in B-flat
Holst - Suite in E-flat
Sousa - Stars and Stripes Forever
Vaughan Williams - Toccata Marziale

- Sight reading

If you can afford to travel out to Cincinnati sometime during the fall, Tim Northcut will be more than happy to hear you play in preparation for your audition. He is always willing to listen. His schedule is pretty busy throughout the school year, but he will make time if he can.

If you have any questions about CCM at all, please send me a private message on TubeNet. I'm usually on here pretty often.

Hope this information helps you out, and best of luck with your future auditions!

When choosing a solo, make it something that is pleasant to listen to. There are plenty of choices for tubists that are challenging as well as beautiful. I recall one year when I was in college, and one of the Masters students at Northwestern played Encounters II for his jury. It seemed logical since he could play the crap out of it. After all, it had won him the position with the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, but that audition was for Gunther Schuller, who loves contemporary music. But when he played it for his jury, one of the brass faculty at NU said on his jury form "I can't tell how well you played, based on the piece you chose to perform." So be careful and probably a little conservative.

Also, play something that you can absolutely nail. You don't want to be in an audition and get nervous because you're unsure if you can play the piece well. It will be better to play something a little less difficult and nail it than to play something that stretches your capabilities and crash and burn on it. You don't need to demonstrate any deficiencies. They will be evident, unless you are at a professional level already. My experience is that Julliard auditions are very competitive, and there will likely only be one spot available, so you want to play as well as you possibly can. If you play as well as you can play and don't get in, you can live with that. But if you go for it on a more difficult piece, and don't play well, you will always wonder if you might have been accepted if you had been more conservative in your approach.

It might also be worth your while to contact Alan Baer and get some input from him.

Finally, and most important, make sure to demonstrate that you are a musician that happens to play the tuba, instead of a tuba player trying to be musical.

TubaNerd88 wrote:
If you are planning on auditioning for the undergraduate program, here are the requirements:

Tuba - BM

- All major scales two octaves


Tuba - MM

- All major and minor scales two octaves

Outrageous!!

My six octave range has gone to waste!!

Go have a lesson with the teacher and ask them.