To schedule an audition, or for further questions about graduate percussion programs, please contact Prof. Timothy Adams, area chair.
Percussion graduate auditions (MM)
- Snare: A concert solo (e.g., Delecluse, Hard Times, etc.)
- Mallets: A two-mallet solo (e.g., Green: Rag, Bach, Delecluse) and a contemporary four-mallet solo
- Timpani: A four-drum solo (e.g., Delecluse, Carter, or others of equivalent difficulty)
- Orchestral Repertoire:
◦ Snare: Prokofiev - Lieutenant Kije, Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade, Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10
◦ Xylophone: Gershwin - Porgy and Bess (opening), Kabalevsky - Colas Breugnon, Messiaen - Oiseaux exotiques, Copland - Appalachian Spring
◦ Glockenspiel: Dukas - Sorcerer's Apprentice, Mozart - The Magic Flute
◦ Tambourine: Dvorak - Carnival Overture
◦ Triangle: Brahms - Symphony No. 4
◦ Cymbals: Tchaikovsky - Romeo & Juliet and Symphony No. 4
◦ Bass Drum: Mahler - Symphony No. 3, Britten - Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
◦ Timpani: Mozart - Symphony No. 39, Beethoven - Symphony No. 1, Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4, Brahms - Symphony No. 1
Percussion graduate auditions (DMA)
DMA applicants should prepare ALL of the items listed above for the MM audition (snare, mallet, and timpani solos and the indicated orchestral excerpts), plus the following additional excertps:
- Snare: Ravel - Bolero, Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espagnole, Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5
- Xylophone: Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Kodaly - Hary Janos, Schuman - Symphony No. 3
- Glockenspiel: Respighi - Pines of Rome, Stravinsky - Petrushka (1911), Debussy - La Mer
- Tambourine: Chabrier - España, Tchaikovsky - "Trepak" from The Nutcracker, Bizet - Carmen Suites I and II
- Triangle: Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1, Dvorak - Symphony No. 9
- Cymbals: Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 2, Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain
- Bass Drum: Stravinsky - Rite of Spring
- Timpani: Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 9, Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis, Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra