The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Simply send in your Electronic Application, Supplemental Application, Application Fee, and any required pre-screening materials by the stated deadlines. You will be sent a response to the pre-screening process, and an "invitation to audition" at the appropriate time. We like to get the invitations out by mid-January for the February auditions, and by late-April for the May auditions—hopefully enough time to deal with transportation issues for those traveling to Baltimore.

Most undergraduate auditions are scheduled at ten or fifteen--minute intervals. However, some are done a little differently. For instance, in certain majors, we schedule four people at the beginning of each hour, and they audition in the order they arrive on site. When time permits (usually depends on major) MM auditions can be as long as twenty minutes. DMA auditions are typically twenty minutes.

That having been said, we try to support our faculty's wishes. Violin auditions, for instance, tend to be very short. Piano auditions vary in length. The important thing to remember is that an audition is a diagnostic event. If it runs short, it probably means that the faculty has been able to get a clear picture of your level of development in a relatively short time. You should not assume anything (positive or negative) by the length of time involved.

Pre-screening is becoming more of a fact of life around Peabody. There are two benefits: It helps keep the on-campus audition schedule from getting overloaded, and it saves time, dollars, and stress for applicants who would otherwise travel to Peabody, only to discover that they misjudged the high level of musical development necessary for entrance.

Information about pre-screening has been built into the instructions sheets, but here is a brief run down of the majors and programs involved.

• Cello: Pre-screening by CD
• Composition: The portfolio you send with your application will be used for pre-screening.
• Conducting: Pre-screening by DVD
• Flute: Pre-screening by CD
• Opera GPD: Pre-screening by DVD
• Piano: All piano applicants will be prescreened by CD. Applicants passing the pre-screening must audition in person. There will be no auditions via recording in piano in any program.
• Voice: Any applicant wishing to audition in person at Peabody. Pre-screening is not necessary for those able to audition via recording (CD)

Pre-screening materials must be in our hands by the application deadlines. The deadlines are enforced by the faculties involved. Recordings arriving after those dates may not be heard.

NOTE:  Please test your CD to be sure it will play on a standard CD player.  That's what we have in the audition rooms.  If your CD will only play on a computer it will not be heard.

Except in the two pre-screening cases shown above, Peabody does not accept videotapes or DVDs as a medium for those auditioning via recording. The standard format for recorded auditions is the CD. We are also still equipped to handle a good Dolby B cassette on Type II tape. If you would like to use the audio portion of a videotape from a recital, you can copy it to a CD or to an audio cassette and send it in. However, most videotape machines drastically limit the dynamics of the performance and alter the tone quality, so unless the original video recording was professionally mastered, we don't recommend it. More on the subject below.

There are several reasons we do not use videotapes or DVDs at Peabody. From a practical standpoint, we sometimes have as many as twelve rooms set up to hear auditions at the same time. These are classrooms which are not equipped for video playback. From a technical standpoint there are three different television standards in the world, and many of our applicants are international. A VHS video or DVD recorded with the PAL standard (for instance) will not play back cleanly on a machine conforming to the NTSC standard. Finally, there is an aesthetic consideration. We know of no easily portable consumer equipment that doesn't optimize the audio portion of the recording to make words easier to understand. This involves automatically making soft passages louder, and loud passages softer. It also involves changing the timbre of the sound to emphasize the range of frequencies involved in voice recognition. Taken together, you get an unreliable representation of the performer's tone and dynamic range—two critical elements in evaluating an applicant's level of development.

The Admissions Office gets a lot of calls about audition repertoire. Some applicants want to know if we can make exceptions so they can use the same repertoire at several schools. Others happen to be working on a given piece, which is similar to the one we require. Our repertoire requirements are determined by the faculty in each major, so there are many interpretations of how much latitude you have in preparing your audition. Let me start with a general explanation, and then we will go on to specific majors.

We list audition requirements as a means to communicate the general level of musical development typical of those entering the school. In many cases, the faculty is not really concerned that you perform the exact pieces listed. Some specifically state that the listed repertoire should be considered as a guideline. However, it is important that whatever you perform, it is at least at the same level of difficulty as the recommended pieces. So, when we get a phone call from someone who wants to know if a given piece meets the requirements, we most often ask them to consult with their private teacher to see if the difficulty is equivalent. I must admit that no one in the admissions office is expert enough to be able to judge equivalency of every bit of repertoire in every major, so this gets us off the hook, and it gets you better quality information.

Another question we often hear goes something like, "Do I have to prepare all the movements of the concerto (or sonata)?" The audition instructions for your major instrument will tell you what the faculty is looking for. It should be obvious with the time constraints of most auditions that it is not likely you will be asked to perform part of every movement from every piece you have prepared, so I suppose you can gamble that they won't ask for a particular movement. However, remember what I said earlier. Audition repertoire is designed as a guide to the level of development typical of those accepted to the school. As we might say around the office water cooler (if we actually had one), "Anyone acceptable to Peabody in (say) piano, should have an entire Beethoven Sonata in their repertoire, ready to go, with just a little touching up." So, if you find yourself struggling to perform something either specifically required, or something of equivalent difficulty, it may be a clue that you should be exploring other schools. On the other hand, if you are feeling nervous because you have not had a chance to tidy up the third movement of something, you can always state that fact to the faculty if they ask you to play it.

 Undergraduate applicants come from a wide range of backgrounds. As an extreme example, I remember a visitor to the admissions office asking us if she had to play piano with both hands in order to be accepted. To help guide those with such diverse experience, we tend to be specific with audition guidelines. Undergraduate audition guidelines should be taken seriously to the point that if you are not familiar with the pieces, and if your teacher says you are not already performing works of similar difficulty, it is best that you focus your college choices toward schools where the entrance levels are a bit more reflective of your experience.

 Click here for the Audition Repertoire List

For graduate applicants, the audition requirements in most majors are not specifically listed. There is a reason. Entrance level for, say, a masters program must be within reach of the better students currently completing undergraduate degrees. As it happens, the culminating activity of an undergraduate degree program is the performance of a senior recital. It logically follows that since our auditions are held in February and May, senior recital material would represent both the most advanced and the best rehearsed repertoire for a graduating college senior. Thus, most of our graduate auditions require "sufficient material to perform a full solo recital containing works which show a diversity of periods and styles." In other words, a typical college senior recital program is likely to be just fine.

Over the past few years, faculties in a few majors have become more specific in their audition repertoire requirements, so be sure to check the Repertoire section for details.  Here is a link to the graduate requirements.

We can't. Expect the faculty to start and stop you in the middle of things. Remember, an audition is a diagnostic activity; not a performance. You might imagine, for instance, what might happen if the piano faculty had to listen to 30 complete renditions of a Beethoven Sonata before hearing your audition. I suspect their brains would be mush by then. As a diagnostic activity, the faculty will hear only what they have to hear to have a clear understanding of your level of development.

 Recorded auditions are not acceptable for the following types of applicants:

• All piano applicants who pass pre-screening must audition on campus.
• DMA applicants must audition on campus because of the required interview with the graduate committee.
• Graduate applicants who live in the continental United States must audition on campus.

With the exception of piano majors, recorded auditions are permitted for the following types of applicants:

• Undergraduates who take part in regional auditions (where we make the recording)
• Undergraduates who live more than 300 miles west of Baltimore, or 150 miles to the north or south
• International students living outside of the continental United States

• Jazz applicants can make their own audition tapes, but the set-up time and complexity make jazz auditions impractical to hear during our regional travels. In other words, if you want to audition by recording, you can make the recording at your leisure and send it in to us.

So, should you come for a live audition? If you are a piano major, the answer is a simple "yes."  There is no other choice.  For others it is a tricky question. In the largest sense, Peabody routinely accepts students by recorded audition—either recordings sent in by the applicant, or recordings made during regional auditions. Thus, it is clearly possible to be accepted that way. Statistically, recorded auditions are somewhat less likely to be accepted than live auditions, but I can't say for sure if the recording itself has anything to do with it. For instance, it is logical to suppose that if someone has doubts about their qualifications for entrance, they might send a recording just to see what happens. This would tend to put some of the recorded auditions at a lower performance level than the live auditions we hear on campus, and would effect the statistics. Also, we do get the occasional recording that is of such poor quality it is hard to hear the performance. And there was that one tape we received which started with a nice enough rendition of audition material, but was suddenly interrupted with what sounded like demented rantings. A quick call to the applicant revealed the culprit to be the applicant's ninth grade brother, who had seen the as-yet-unlabeled cassette and used it to record his "garage band."

Let's look at it from a more general perspective. You should audition in person at the schools nearest the top of your "wish list." Not only will the faculty have the most secure impression of your performance, but you will come away with a feeling about the school that will make your choice easier when it comes time to decide where to attend. After all, you are selecting a place to live as well as to study. If time, distance, and funds conspire to make a visit to the campus impossible, don't hesitate to send a recording. As long as the recording is of decent quality, it will only effect the outcome if your audition is right on the border between acceptable and unacceptable.

What about regional auditions? These are available to undergraduate applicants in a few parts of the country. Frankly, it is you, me, and my CD recorder in a room. Like CDs you make yourself, regional audition recordings are played for the faculty during our regular audition periods. There are two advantages and one disadvantage to attending regional auditions as opposed to making your own recording. Advantage #1 is that we are usually able to schedule half-hour auditions. You play for fifteen minutes. The rest of the time is dedicated to answering questions and letting you know what to expect from us—items usually discussed at the parents meetings on campus. Advantage #2 is that we use good microphones, and I write comments about your physical approach to the instrument. This makes for a better than average recorded sound, and the faculty has some faith that I will pick up any "bad habits" which might slow your progress if you are accepted. The disadvantage of attending a regional audition is that you do not have the option of starting over if you mess up. Well, sometimes we start over, but I have to make a note of it.

If your audition is heard in February, initial results will come to you by email on April 1 (unless a weekend gets in the way). Those who audition in May will have their results sent near the end of the first week in June.  The email will contain as much information as we can coax from the school's computer—maybe even teacher assignments—plus (we hope) a link so you can see your financial aid results. Other forms, etc. will follow by snail mail.