Masters in Piano Performance repertoire

[rowdy2898]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. The reason for my posting is because I'm strongly considering auditioning for a Masters in Piano Performance program next year. I'm Canadian, so my main schools of choice are McGill and Western for performance and UofT for piano pedagogy. I don't know the American schools very well, but so far, Wisconsin-Madison and Boston look fairy attractive. I'm ruling out impossible schools like Juilliard, Eastman and Curtis Institute. I'm 23, my degree is in music theory/history with several performance credits as my first two years were in piano performance before I changed my mind. However, now I decided performance might be my true destination. Although my practicing is not as vigorous as it was during my performance days, I still practice every day and I picked up some new pieces. The only problem is, I feel very much out of the loop so I don't know what pieces are considered "appropriate" for a Masters level. I'm mostly considered about sufficient difficulty.

These are my pieces so far:
-Bach prelude and fugue in B minor, book 1
-Beethoven sonata op. 57 "Appassionata"
-Prokofiev sonata op. 21 in D minor
-Anne Southam Rivers #8

If necessary, I will play Rachmaninoff's prelude in G minor and for an etude, I have Chopin's Tristesse down pad...I'm not sure if those two pieces are difficult enough to be taken seriously at a Masters audition.

Any comments and suggeestions about how to make a successful audition? My technique is a little faulty - the equivalent of a 2nd year performance major. However, I thrive in performances. I did ace my undergrad performance audition, but I was a lot more self-confident and arrogant back then. I have about 7-8 months to prepare. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

[bachbrahmsschubert]

Hi Rowdy,

I can share a little bit of information on the American conservatories. For Graduate performance applicants, as this may be true for all schools in the U.S. and abroad, they expect that you've given both a Junior and Senior recital or performances that are equivalent of. It would not be out of the realm of possibility that you could be accepted somewhere, but those Conservatories you mentioned in the U.S. are indeed out of the question; their acceptance rate is ridiculous for an education many other Conservatories and Universities offer at an equal level.

I was in the relatively same boat as you entering my undergraduate studies. I entered as a Theory major and they asked me to change to performance. Apparently they saw something I did not, but I'm loving every bit of it; I'm 23 as well, getting ready for graduate auditions.

To give you more of an idea as an applicant with four years of performance study, my audition repertoire stands as:
-Bach Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue
-Schubert Sonata D.958
-Alkan Etude Op. 35 No. 4
-Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12.

Do you have anything else to audition with besides the Appassionata? It is so overplayed....and....boring....but, to give you a counter example, a good friend of mine was accepted to the Jacobs institute; he played the Appassionata and Chopin's Sonata No. 2. Talk about a run-of-the-mill audition, but they still accepted him. Jacob's also has one of the best graduate programs in the Country.

Though all this crap aside, the best advice I can give you is to email the Chair of the piano department of schools you're interested in and be honest. Explain your situation a little and ask if it would be reasonable that you apply. You don't have to give so many specific details, just a general theory major wanting to audition as a performance major. The worst that could happen is they say no, but I'd rather hear a "no" right now than after my auditions!

Best wishes,

[rowdy2898]

Hi bachbrams,

Thank you for the reply. I could substitute the Appassionata for Schumann's Novelette #8 op. 21, I don't think it's quite as widely played but I could be wrong (how could you think the Appassionata is boring?) I also have the Beethoven Op. 101 sonata, Hindemith Sonata #2 and Morel Two Sonority Etudes. Funny you mentioned Chopin 2nd sonata, I was very close to learning it before realizing I have too many sonatas already.

As far as Chopin, I would really like to play his Ballade in F minor. I started learning it three years ago but gave up, but I was immature and not quite mentally sound back then and things have changed for the better. Would you say the 4th ballade is overplayed as well? I know, all of Chopin is overplayed, but some pieces are more overplayed than others. In my area, everybody played his 1st and 2nd scherzos at some point.

Congratulations to your friend for getting accepted to Jacob's! I heard it's a very difficult school 
Do you know anything about music programs for American universities such as Wisconsin-Madison? I would much rather study at a university than a conservatory. My GPA was 3.4 with a 3.7 or 3.8 average in music including many strong recommendations.

You're playing Alkan??? How are you finding it? I never touched any of his stuff. I absolutely love the Liszt rhapsody. Great choice of pieces, so far.

Sincerely

[bachbrahmsschubert]

I'm sure for every school they will require a full classical sonata, so if you only have the Appassionata just keep it. I find it boring because it is so overplayed. He wrote 32 sonatas...and I hear 4 of them performed over and over again. I love and would recommend op. 101 if it's under your fingers, but please do whatever you want.

The schools I've looked into want a major work of the romantic period and virtuosic etude. Chopin's ballades are large works, but again, his ballades and scherzos are severely overplayed as well. The same with his etudes, there are so many compositions of the form, I feel like I'm cheating myself by performing/auditioning with any of them. Alkan and Henselt are the two who contributed the most to the form and are under appreciated in my opinion.

This particular Alkan etude is not as daunting as it may seem; it repeats very often. The left hand work for some sections is very difficult, and, as with most Alkan, requires an incredible amount of focus and stamina. I find his music so incredible, however unplayable for the average human being. It takes a unique virtuoso to conquer his music, and I am far from that. I generally dislike Liszt, but I love this one and it has been in my repertoire for a couple of years.

I couldn't tell you much about the Universities. I am based in California and know a little bit about some programs here. I'd feel uncomfortable giving you any information with regards to GPA as I'm not sure how much stress is put into it. Some schools just look at it as a minimum requirement, then ignore your transcript after that, barring a few F's. Other then that, I'm useless.  

Best wishes,