how important is diversity when choosing audition repetoire?

[hopefulauditionpasser]

hello,
many american conservatories specify that they "encourages applicants to submit diverse repertoire, including works composed by women, people from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, and/or musicians from one’s own cultural background."

how significant is this specification? looking for underrepresented composers is such a pain, and even then they often don't have conservatory level repetoire. the few i've managed to bunch up are quite atonal/dissonant and it's been such a struggle to connect with musically.

is it worth it to keep looking? could this "diverse" piece possibly be the push that gets me in?

thanks

[lelle]

Only the people sitting in that particular jury can tell you how much it affects your chances, unfortunately. It does sound like this jury wants to hear a more diverse selection than is typical.

Knowing a number of people who have sat on audition juries, I know they hear approximately 143 000 blandly similar playthroughs of Chopin's first Ballade and similar pieces, and that it's hard to not tune out after a while when Ballade No. 1 version 64 000 comes up. If you come with at least some pieces that are fresh, and, more importantly, you play them really well, it might at least not hurt your chances.

Just google "women composers" or "[racial/ethnic group] composers" and see what comes up and what is most popular on YouTube and I'm sure you'll find tonal music without too much effort.

[thorn]

It definitely sounds part of the criteria vs. an optional thing that might sway the jury. But it also sounds like it's flexible for each pianist to present something that is meaningful to them.

So not "you must have something that's written by a woman/an ethnic minority", but "you must submit diverse repertoire which may include a piece by a female/non-white composer for example". Perhaps one pianist has Irish heritage and plays John Field which ticks the "one's own cultural background" part. Perhaps another pianist is LGBT and picks something by Samuel Barber. Etc etc.