Auditions
For details about February audition week, May auditions, and regional and Asian auditions, visit the Admissions website.
Undergraduate Audition Repertoire
Undergraduate piano applications must upload a pre-screening video to DecisionDesk by December 1. The video must include:
- A sonata-allegro movement from a classical sonata
- a major romantic work
- one virtuosic etude
Applicants passing the pre-screening will be required to perform at Peabody in person for admission. Here is the required repertoire:
- BAROQUE - A Prelude and Fugue or any other work containing a fugue by J.S. Bach.
- CLASSICAL - Complete (All-Movements) sonata by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven or Schubert. The Mozart G Major Sonata, K. 283, and Beethoven Sonata, Op. 49 may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
- ROMANTIC - A major solo work by a 19th-century composer. For example - Chopin: Ballades, Scherzi, or Sonata; Brahms: Op. 118 or 119 (complete); Liszt: Dante Sonata, Vallee d'Obermann or a Hungarian Rhapsody. Note: A Chopin Nocturne or Etude may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
- 20TH CENTURY - A major solo work.
- ETUDE - A virtuoso Etude by one of the following composers: Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Bartok, or Stravinsky.
- TRANSFER STUDENTS ONLY: Must present one additional virtuosic etude from Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, or Rachmaninoff.
Graduate Audition Repertoire
Pre-screening
M.M. and G.P.D. applicants who are not current Peabody students must upload a pre-screening video to DecisionDesk. Repertoire includes:
- a complete classical sonata
- a major romantic work
- one virtuosic etude
D.M.A. applicants who are not current Peabody students must upload a pre-screening video to DecisionDesk by December 1. The material on the video should be a half-hour of music that represents three style periods. A recording of a recital can be used if it was performed within the past two years. Selections on the recording do not have to be the same ones you will perform for your audition.
A.D. applicants who are not current Peabody students must upload a pre-screening video to DecisionDesk by December 1. The material on the video should be 70 minutes of music representing three style periods.
Audition Repertoire
M.M. applicants must prepare a program of from 50 to 60 minutes which includes three style periods. A complete classical sonata, a major romantic work, and one virtuosic etude are required. Remaining works are to be chosen by the applicant. All works must be prepared in their entirety.
G.P.D. applicants must prepare a recital program, 60 minutes in length, of repertoire representing at least three style periods and including at least two large-scale works.
D.M.A. applicants must prepare a program of no less than 60 minutes' duration, representing at least three style periods, and including at least two large-scale works. Your audition schedule will include a mandatory advising session, most likely on the day of your audition. You will be advised on the next steps in the process based on preliminary results from your audition. Continuing with the DMA placement exams and interview will be an option for some. Alternative programs may be suggested for others. Official decisions will be made after considering all results. You will learn of the outcome in the usual time frame. Learn more about the process.
A.D. applicants must prepare a program of no less than 70 minutes' duration, representing at least three style periods and including at least two large-scale works.
