Audition Information

CLARINET AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
The College of Music requires a successful audition on the major instrument for all freshmen, transfer students, and graduate performance students. The audition determines acceptance as a music major. The audition will be performed for representative members of the music performance faculty.

As part of the application process at MSU, you will be asked to state your clarinet teacher of choice on your application. In addition to being accepted to the College of Music you will be accepted into a particular clarinet studio. Once you are accepted, the professor will serve as your liaison to Financial Aid and will help guide you through the audition process and answer any questions you might have.

SUGGESTED CLARINET AUDITION REPERTOIRE
*Please note that the following repertoire is suggested to serve as a guideline; works of similar scope may be performed. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Undergraduate Clarinet:

• Perform major and minor (harmonic & melodic) scales and chromatic scale over the normal range of the clarinet
• Two contrasting etudes from the Rose 32 Etudes
• One concerto and one French concours work or unaccompanied work from the following lists. Works of similar scope and difficulty may also be performed:
  • Concerti - First movement of Mozart Concerto K.622, Weber Concerto No. 1 in f minor, or Weber Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major
  • French concours - Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie, Messager Solo De Concours, Rabaud Solo De Concours, or other similar French concours works
  • Unaccompanied works: Willson Osborne, Rhapsody for Clarinet, Igor Stravinsky, Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo, (movements 2 and 3 only)
• Piano accompaniment is not required for clarinet or woodwind auditions; however, applicants may provide their own accompanist if desired.

MM Clarinet

• Perform extended major and minor (harmonic & melodic) scales and chromatic scale
• Choose two contrasting etudes from Rose 32 or 40 Etudes
• First movement of either the Mozart Concerto K.622, Weber Concerto No. 1 in f minor, Weber Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, Copland Concerto, or Nielsen Concerto
• First movement of either Brahms sonata or French concours work such as Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie, Widor Introduction et Rondo Chausson Andante et Allegro, Messager Solo De Concours, Francaix Tema con Variazioni or other similar work
• Choose one Contemporary Solo Unaccompanied work from the list below:
  • For an Actor: Monologue for Clarinet (inA) Shulamit Ran
  • Sequenza IXa per clarinetto solo, Luciano Berio
  • Soliloquies, Leslie Bassett (choose two of the movements)
  • Dancing Solo, Libby Larsen (choose two of the movements)
  • Flammes, Komives (choose two of the etudes)
  • Prelude, Penderecki
  • Gra, Carter
  • Hommages, Kovacs DaFalla or Bach
  • Sonatina for Clarinet Solo, Rozsa (movement 1)
  • Sonate für Klarinette in B, Edison Denissow (both movements)
  • Sonate pour Clarinette Solo, Ida Gotkovsky (choose two movements)
  • A Set for Clarinet, Martino (choose one movement)
• Piano accompaniment is not required for clarinet or woodwind auditions; however, applicants may provide their own accompanist if desired.
• Orchestral Excerpts: Choose three from the listed works below: Beethoven 6: Movement 1 (solo at the end of the movement) Beethoven 8: Minuet and Trio (do not take the repeat) Borodin, Polovetsian Dances (solos mvt. II m. 6-14) and (mvt. III m. 3-10) Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (opening solo to 2) Kodaly: Dances of Galanta (first page solo) Mendelssohn scherzo: (opening through the end of the trills; dotted quarter = 84) Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolfe (cadenza) Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol movement 1, (both solos) and movement 3 (solo) Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (solo at F Recit Moderato assai) and (movement III upbeats to G to H) and (movement IV solo from I to K) Stravinsky: The Firebird (Variation de l'oiseau de feu) Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 9 movement 2 (opening solo) and (movement 3 Presto m.1-17)

DMA Clarinet

Admission Requirements for DMA in Clarinet Performance

• Completion of application to Michigan State University
• Completion of application to College of Music
• An audition before a faculty committee
• Evaluation of application materials including:
  • Academic transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
  • Three letters of recommendation

General Information about DMA Auditions

• All domestic applicants must audition in person. (The area must approve any exceptions.)
• International applicants applying for scholarships and assistantships must audition in person. (The area must approve any exceptions.)
• All other international applicants may submit a tape for provisional acceptance and audition in person in the first semester in residence.
• Applicants who do not pass an audition the first time may audition one more time the following semester.
• A second failed audition precludes any further consideration for admission into the DMA program.
• Applicants will be notified of audition results by the end of March.

Audition Format
The audition consists of:

• A twenty minute performance from the recital program
• A ten minute lecture on the music

Recital Portion

• The recital program must be received two weeks prior to the audition and should include major works.
• The program should be varied in regard to different periods, styles, and tempi of music and may be chosen from the repertoire for the MM audition requirements in clarinet as well as other similar clarinet solo recital repertoire. In addition to the recital program, choose three orchestral excerpts from the MM orchestral excerpt list.
• Applicant will begin the audition with a selection of her/his choice.
• Audition committee will choose the other selections from the program.

Lecture Portion

• The applicant should be prepared to lecture on any work on the recital program. • Possible topics might include the formal structure and style of a piece, its compositional techniques and devices, its relationship to other works of the same composer, period, or genre, technical problems, the dramatic setting of an aria, or the historical background of an opera.

Piano Accompaniment

• Piano accompaniment is not required for clarinet or woodwind auditions; however, applicants may provide their own accompanist if desired. When possible, the College of Music will attempt to put you in contact with pianists who are interested in playing for doctoral auditions.

CLARINET SCHOLARSHIPS
All students who audition will automatically be considered for scholarship awards and no additional application is necessary. Undergraduate music scholarships are based on 1. Audition and 2. High school GPA and SAT/ACT test scores. Graduate awards may include general music scholarships and named scholarships as well as Graduate Assistantships. Not all Graduate Assistantships are available every year as in most cases a GA award lasts a minimum of two years. Please inquire as to their availability. Applicants may also apply for the University Distinguished Fellowship (UDF).

A live, on-campus audition is required for full acceptance and for scholarship consideration. Those who cannot visit the campus because they live a great distance from East Lansing, Michigan, may submit a recording but are not considered for scholarships, assistantships, or fellowships. Additionally, such students can only be accepted on provisional status until a live audition is successfully completed within the first semester of study. This live audition could take place immediately or at any time within that first semester, at the discretion of the area faculty.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME:

Dr. Caroline Hartig
Professor of Clarinet Michigan State University
College of Music, MPB 218
West Circle Drive
East Lansing, MI 48824
Studio phone: (517) 355­-7645
hartigc@msu.edu

ADMISSIONS OFFICES and CONTACTS

College of Music
Michigan State University
253 Music Building
East Lansing, MI 48824-1043
Phone: (517) 355-2140
Fax: (517) 432-8209
E-mail: admissions@music.msu.edu

Benjamin Ebener, Director
Office of Admissions
College of Music
251 Music Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: 517.432.4373
Fax: 517.432.8209
ebener@msu.edu

Viki Gietzel, Assistant Director
Admissions and Student Services
College of Music
253 Music Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 353-1288
Fax: (517) 432-8209
gietzel@msu.edu

David C Rayl
Director of Choral Programs and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in Music
College of Music
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
rayld@msu.edu

Anne Simon-Graduate secretary
simonan@msu.edu
(517) 353-9122

Link to Admissions:
http://www.music.msu.edu/admissions/admissions_apply.php?admissions_apply