Having trouble choosing audition pieces

[jayd]

I want to audition for a university course in November and am having problems picking pieces that meet the university's audition requirements. I was hoping for some suggestions.

The requirements for the audition are:

- programme no longer than 20 minutes total - they will hear about 15 mins of it
- 3 pieces
- 1 baroque, 1 romantic, 1 20th century
- "generally" AMEB grade 7 standard (Australian Music Education Board - I *think* equivalent to grade 7/8 ABRSM pieces)

I had decided on a Bach Prelude & Fugue (WTC II No. 12 F Minor), Chopin Nocturne Op 72. No. 1 and Debussy's Golliwog's Cakewalk as I'm doing the first 2 for my grade 8 AMEB exam and did the last one for the grade 7 exam, but my concerns are:

- in total, without repeats in the Bach, the three pieces are only about 11-11.5 minutes (13.5 with repeats). In the AMEB exams you don't play repeats - are you supposed to in an audition?

- other Australian universities seem to encourage you to play an Australian composer for your 20th century piece (no mention of it on this uni's audition requirements though)

- All the AMEB grade 7 and 8 listed pieces are only 3-5 minutes long, (except the classical period pieces, which I can't use), and I'm not sure if it is safe to go higher than grade 8 (I would hate to be falling all over something that is obviously too advanced). I don't really know what pieces outside the AMEB listed ones are at the standard the uni is looking for.

I've looked at other posts about uni auditions and it sounds like people generally play much harder pieces than grade 7/8 pieces, so I'm wondering if I'm even at the stage where I should audition, yet the requirements plainly state grade 7 standard, so it's confusing.

Can anyone give some advice? If anyone has been through or is planning to sit ffor an audition at the University of Melbourne in Australia I'd love to know what pieces you played/will play.

[mlsmithz]

Well, my advice probably won't be too useful since I've never even been to Australia, much less experienced the AMEB exams.  The ABRSM system, however, I have experienced; you could probably get an idea of some other pieces of the appropriate standard from archived lists of ABRSM syllabi (or AMEB syllabi if such archives are available).  If Australian composers are keenly encouraged, well, if Percy Grainger qualifies (which I presume he does), his pieces tend to be of Grade 7/8 standard at the easier end ("Country Gardens", "Shepherd's Hey", "Handel in the Strand" and the like - certainly avoid things like "Colonial Song" or "Jutish Medley").  Most Debussy would be of appropriate standard; the latest ABRSM Grade 8 syllabus includes the E major Arabesque, which I think is one of the easier Debussy pieces.  For Chopin, ABRSM Grade 8 syllabi have recently included the E minor waltz, Op. posth., and the C minor polonaise, Op.40 No.2; the latter when played without repeats (there's just the one repeat) lasts about six minutes if length is a concern and isn't difficult to learn if you don't know it at the moment (you could certainly learn it by November).

However, I suspect the most useful advice for appropriate pieces would come from someone who has auditioned for either Melbourne or another Aussie university, so take the above with an entire salt cellar.

[Tash]

well i'm in sydney going to audition for a BmusBed in september, except i'm kind of not overly worried about it cos i've already been at UNSW for the past 1 1/2years and the music staff already pretty much know what i'm capable in terms of aural and theory at least. i'll being playing a couple of AMus level pieces cos that's what i'm up to at the moment, but i know how you feel not feeling like you're up to audition level yet, because up until now i felt the same thing. but getting to know all the other music students there, a lot of them are so slack about it all i'm like why are you here. and i was talking to one girl what plays the clarinet and for her prac exam last year she learnt her 3rd piece like 2 weeks before the exam and it was apparently seriously easy!
so basically provided you play well i don't think they're really too fussed about your level, the only downside really is that there is a lot of competition between pianists because there's so many of them compared to other intrumentalists.
in terms of playing an australian composition, i've never even thought about it! like even sydney conservatorium doesn't specifially request an australian piece for the 20th century work, so i wouldn't feel overly pressured about it. they're more after contrasting pieces to see your diversity, and you've got that. i doubt they'd be too concerned about the length, in fact they'd probably prefer shorter because then you're getting done with it all quicker.
but if you have any real worries about all of it, call the school of music at the uni and have a chat with them, i'm sure they'll be really nice about it! and if you have any other random uni-related questions feel free to IM me (cos i'm such a know-it-all about aussie uni's hahaha)

[dmk]

The audition standards are a minimum standard...so you can consider than a baseline of what people will be playing.

It is not really that important how hard your pieces are but you would want to play what ever you choose REALLY WELL both musically and technically.  They want to see someone with potential.  Just be aware that competition for pianists is generally really high

Being in NSW i have never sent anyone to a Melb audition but I have (and myself) have had a few students get into the Syd Con....the repertoire requirements are a little more prescribed up here with scales, sight reading etc...but here are some tips in general


1/  I don't think repeats are required for auditions

2/ This is what the UMelb website actually says

Students should prepare 3 pieces demonstrating their skill on the instrument they wish to study. The pieces should be of contrasting styles and periods, and the audition program should be no longer than 20 minutes. A sample program might include works from the Baroque, Romantic and Twentieth Century repertoires. Students may also be asked to demonstrate some technical work. The audition panel will not hear all of the program and will make its own selection from the works prepared

Thus, program could include a portion of a classical sonata...which I would personally recommend you add as long as the three pieces are from differing periods you should be fine.

2/ The pieces DO NOT have to come from the AMEB list that it just the minimum standard of difficulty they have set...you could pick pieces from anywhere so think outside the square!!!  They will probably appreciate hearing a good performance of something they have not heard 10000 times

I always send my kids in with a suitably difficult but totally abstract 20th century piece and audition panels tend to like it, provided you play it with the requisite skill.

Good luck...and enjoy playing for them..that is the best tip I can give )

Cheers

dmk

[jayd]

Thanks everyone for replying, I've gotten something helpful from each reply. I will call the school to ask them about the length and suitability of the pieces I decide on to see what they say.

DMK you recommend a sonata be included - what would you replace with a sonata and why? What would they be looking for in a sonata? I am working on a Mozart sonata at the moment but it was written just 50 years after the P&F so probably not suitable to put the two into the same program even though they are different styles?

The Prelude & Fugue is the only one I'm really comfortable with as a choice. I'm a bit worried that the Chopin might be too easy or that they'll hold it to a higher standard because it's well known, but I love just about everything Chopin so if I was to replace it I would ideally like to replace it with another of his works (not if it meant having an unbalanced/inappropriate selection though). The Debussy I don't even particularly like - 20th century is a category I've always had problems appreciating but I'm sure they'll want something from the last hundred years, or do you think I could get away with doing a classical sonata instead? Surely they would penalize you for that?  Well I am just babbling now.

To tell the truth I am not really going in with high expectations of getting through - I imagine there are a lot of high school kids going in who have been learning since they were 4 or 5 years old whereas I've only been playing for 7 years (started at age 24) but it's something I really love and want to study further (just with a view to teaching and picking up some accompaniment work, I know I am starting too late to go further than that!) and the audition experience would be good if nothing else. My main worry is that I'll make bad choices in what to play and go in without a chance because of the selection. It's one thing to get rejected because you aren't good enough yet but another to sabotage yourself with silly choices.