Video Audition Deadline: December 1
All Butler School of Music applicants will audition by video recording. In-person auditions for fall 2021 admission consideration are not available.
Introductory Video
- In addition to the required audition videos below, submit a one to three minute video recording on which you verbally introduce yourself and discuss your musical and non-musical interests, goals, creative or volunteer work and reasons for applying to UT Austin.
Audition and Introductory Video Submission Instructions
- The introductory video and audition selection(s) may be recorded in separate videos unless otherwise noted.
- Upload and attach your video(s) to the Butler School of Music application prior to submission.
Decision Timeline & Interview Invitations
- Audition videos and application materials will be reviewed and prescreened after December 21.
- All applicants will receive their prescreen results by email in January.
- Those with positive results will be invited to interview with the faculty.
- The interview will be scheduled on the date pre-selected in the application.
Video Audition Requirements
Applicants to the following degrees must adhere to the instrumental requirements below:
- Bachelor of Music in Performance
- Bachelor of Music in Music Studies
- Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance
- Bachelor of Arts in Music (excluding Composition emphasis)
Applicants to the following degrees must adhere to the composition requirements only. Do not follow the audition repertoire requirements described on this page.
Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition applicants must adhere to the instrumental requirements below and composition requirements.
Video Audition Repertoire
Brass Composition Jazz Keyboard
Percussion Strings Voice Woodwinds
Brass
Euphonium
Audition Videos
- An étude of your choice from Bordogni: Melodious Etudes or Rochut: Melodious Etudes
-
A technical étude of your choice from one of the following:
- Voxman: Selected Studies for Baritone
- Arban: Characteristic Studies
- Bousquet: 36 Celebrated Studies
-
A solo of your choice selected from:
- Barat: Andante and Allegro
- Capuzzi: Andante and Rondo
- Curnow: Rhapsody for Euphonium
- Guilmant: Morceau Symphonique
- Marcello: any sonata
- Jacob: Fantasia
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Villarrubia
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Lesson
Horn
Audition Videos
- One technical étude from Kopprasch: 60 Selected Studies
- One étude demonstrating your beautiful sound and phrasing abilities from Gallay, Kling or Maxime
-
One solo work of the applicant's choice from the list of pieces below (or from selections of comparable difficulty):
- Krol: Laudatio (all)
- Ketting: Intrada (all)
- Mozart Horn Concertos 2, 3 or 4 (first mvmt)
- F. Strauss: Concerto, Op. 8 (first mvmt)
- F. Strauss: Nocturno, Op. 7 (all)
- R. Strauss: Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 (first or third mvmt)
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Hughes
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Trombone
Tenor Trombone
Audition Videos
- One étude from Bordogni/Rochut: Melodious Etudes nos. 2-24
- One technical étude from Voxman: Selected Studies
- A solo of applicant’s choice (works such as Guilmant: Morceau Symphonique, Op. 88; Ferdinand David: Concertino; Concerti by Grondahl, Jacob, or Wagenseil; Sonatas by Sulek or Galliard)
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Brickens
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Bass Trombone
Audition Videos
- One étude from Bordogni/Rochut: Melodious Etudes nos. 2-24 (as written and down an octave)
- One technical étude from Blume-Fink: 36 Studies for Trombone with F Attachment or Uber/Knaub: 30 Studies
- A solo of applicant’s choice (works such as Hidas, Rhapsody; Lebedev, Concerto in One Movement; Jacob, Cameos; Stevens, Sonatina).
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Brickens
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Any questions regarding trombone audition requirements or repertoire may be addressed to Professor Brickens.
Trumpet
Audition Videos
- All major scales, two octaves up to high C
- Two contrasting études (Example: slow like Étude #2 by Charlier and quicker like Characteristic Study #1 by Arban)
- A solo of your choice
- Standard orchestral excerpts (optional)
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Hunter
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Tuba
Audition Videos
- An étude of your choice from Bordogni: Melodius Etudes
-
A technical étude of your choice from one of the following:
- Blazevich: 70 Advanced Etudes
- Kopprasch: 60 Selected Studies
- Tyrell: 40 Advanced Studies
-
A solo of your choice from one of the following:
- Capuzzi: Andante and Rondo
- Gregson: Tuba Concerto, mvt. 1
- Haddad: Suite for Tuba
- Hartley: Suite for Unaccompanied Tuba
- Hindemith: Tuba Sonata
- Marcello: Sonata (any)
- Bach/Bell: Air and Bouree
- Barat: Introduction and Dance
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Villarrubia
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Lesson
Jazz
Jazz auditions are required for admission to the Bachelor of Music degrees in Jazz Performance and Jazz Composition. Jazz auditions are for admission to these degrees only. They cannot be used to obtain admission into any other degrees, including the Bachelor of Arts in Music degree.
Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition applicants must also submit a composition portfolio.
All applicants should send videos playing along with accompaniment tracks. Accompaniment tracks can be Jamey Aebersold recordings, iRealPro tracks, internet backing tracks or self-created. Drummers should play along with tracks created by Wayne Salzmann's ensemble.
Jazz Double Bass
Audition Videos
- Display ability to walk a bass line that outlines the chord progression and maintains a steady tempo
- Walk and improvise over a blues in the key of F (four to five choruses) at mm. 160-180
- Walk and improvise over a non-blues piece of your choice from the standard jazz repertoire (Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, My Romance, etc)
- Perform a prepared piece/transcription. This can be a solo transcription (preferred), a jazz audition étude or a jazz ensemble part.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Jazz Drums
Audition Videos
- Perform the selections from the play-along tracks and charts.
- Perform a prepared piece/transcription. This can be a solo transcription (preferred), a jazz audition étude or a jazz ensemble part.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Jazz Guitar
Audition Videos
- Display abilities to comp with voicing and rhythms idiomatic to jazz
- Improvise and comp over a blues in the key of F (five to six choruses) at mm. 160-180
- Play the melody, comp, and improvise over a non-blues piece of your choice from the standard jazz repertoire (Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, My Romance, etc.).
- Perform a prepared piece/transcription. This can be a solo transcription (preferred), a jazz audition étude or a jazz ensemble part.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Jazz Piano
Audition Videos
- Display abilities to comp with voicing and rhythms idiomatic to jazz
- Improvise and comp over a blues in the key of F (five to six choruses) at mm. 160-180
- Play the melody, comp, and improvise over a non-blues piece of your choice from the standard jazz repertoire (Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, My Romance, etc.)
- Perform a prepared piece/transcription. This can be a solo transcription (preferred), a jazz audition étude or a jazz ensemble part.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Jazz Saxophone, Trombone or Trumpet
Audition Videos
- Improvise and comp over a blues in the key of F concert (five to six choruses) at mm. 160-180
- Play the melody and improvise over a non-blues piece of your choice from the standard jazz repertoire (Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, My Romance, etc.)
- Perform a prepared piece/transcription. This can be a solo transcription (preferred), a jazz audition étude or a jazz ensemble part.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Keyboard
Organ
Audition Videos
Audition material should consist of contrasting works or movements lasting 15 – 20 minutes (memorization not required), and taken from the following:
- One work of Johann Sebastian Bach
- A selection of various pieces from different styles/periods
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 20 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
Piano
Audition Videos
-
Performance applicants
- At least twenty minutes of music representing three of the four following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic/Contemporary. Memorization is required.
-
Music Studies (Music Education) and Bachelor of Arts in Music applicants
- At least ten minutes of music representing two of the four following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic/Contemporary. Memorization is required.
-
Suggestions for repertoire
- Preludes and Fugues by Bach, Scarlatti Sonatas, etc.
- Sonatas (or movements of Sonatas) by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven
- A work from the Romantic period by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Liszt, etc.
- A work by Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview with piano faculty (no performance required)
Questions concerning the admissibility of repertoire choices should be addressed to Professor Nel.
Percussion
Percussion
Audition Videos
-
Snare Drum
- Two études from Advanced Snare Drum Studies by Mitchell Peters
-
One étude from the following:
- Twelve Studies for Snare Drum by Jacques Delécluse
- Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony Cirone
-
Keyboard
- One two-mallet solo/étude from Modern School for the Xylophone by Morris Goldenberg or similar
- One intermediate to advanced level four-mallet solo/étude
-
Timpani
- One étude from Fundamental Solos for Timpani by Mitchell Peters -or-
- One étude from Etuden for Timpani by Richard Hochrainer, Vol. I
-
Drum set (not required but if applicable)
- Demonstrate knowledge of the following styles: Jazz, Latin, and Rock
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview only (no performance)
- If you progress through the prescreen round and would like to add new or additional videos to your music application, contact uga@mail.music.utexas.edu for instructions. Do not email your videos.
Any questions regarding percussion audition requirements or repertoire may be addressed to Professor Burritt.
Strings
Cello
Audition Videos
- Two movements of unaccompanied Bach, performed from memory
- One movement of a standard concerto, performed from memory
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 20 minutes
-
The interview will include:
- Interview with cello faculty
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Lesson
Classical Guitar
Classical Guitar definition: A six-string classical acoustic guitar with nylon trebles and silver or gold wound basses. Dreadnoughts and steel string guitars do not qualify.
Audition Videos
- One movement of Bach (or equivalent Baroque composer, i.e. Scarlatti, Weiss, etc.)
- Two contrasting works from another period
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 20 minutes
-
Interview with include:
- Interview with Professor Holzman
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Double Bass
Audition Videos
- One movement from the Bach Cello Suites OR a movement of a baroque sonata
- A contrasting work (or movement of a work) selected from the standard solo literature
- Two standard orchestral excerpts of the applicant’s choice
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
- Interview with Professor Braun (no performance)
Harp
Audition Videos
- Two works (or movements of larger works) of contrasting style. Works by diverse composers are welcomed.
- Lariviere: Étude No. 36 in Eb Major, or other work with significant scales
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 30 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Senior Lecturer Delain Leonard
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Lesson
If you have any further questions regarding harp audition requirements, please contact Delaine Leonard by email or phone: 512/413-3152.
Viola
Audition Videos
All concerto and unaccompanied works are to be performed from memory.
Piano accompaniment is not required but is welcomed.
- Two contrasting movements from the Bach Cello Suites
- A piece or movement from another historical period
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Lesson with viola faculty
- To be arranged on an individual basis pending prescreen results
- Most lessons will take place in January
Violin
Audition Videos
Memorization is REQUIRED for ALL works.
Piano accompaniment is not required.
- One movement of a standard concerto
- One movement from 6 Solo Sonatas and Partitas by J.S. Bach
- First movement exposition from Violin Concerto No. 3, 4 or 5 by W.A. Mozart
Please note a movement and its "Double" constitute one movement.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 10 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with violin faculty
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Voice
Voice
Audition Videos
All works are to be performed from memory and with accompaniment.
- One Italian Art Song or Aria
- One English Art Song or Aria
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 5 minutes
- Interview with voice faculty (no performance required)
Woodwinds
Bassoon
Audition Videos
- Please submit a one to three minute video recording on which you verbally introduce yourself and discuss your musical and non-musical interests, your goals, your reasons for applying to UT Austin and a creative project in which you have been involved.
- Chromatic scale slurred from low Bb to high C in eighth notes at quarter note = 92; Fully diminished 7th chord arpeggios from low B flat to high B flat, from low B to high B and from low C to high C in eighth notes at quarter note = 80; F harmonic minor scale and arpeggio, 2 octaves, moderate tempo; G melodic minor scale and arpeggio, 2 octaves, moderate tempo
- Study #1 in C Major, from 25 Studies in Scales and Chords, op. 24, by Ludwig Milde (preferred edition is edited by Benjamin Kamins and William Short, published by Presser)
-
Two movements from solo pieces and one étude, for a total of three contrasting works. At least one movement must be chosen from the following pieces:
- Jenni Brandon: Colored Stones
- Nancy Galbraith: Sonata for Bassoon and Piano
- Adolphus Hailstork: Bassoon Set
- José Siqueira: Three Études for Bassoon and Piano
- Sing a major scale and arpeggio
-
Clap the beat while singing the following rhythms on a neutral syllable:
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 25 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Jensen
- Lesson
Clarinet
Audition Videos: Must be recorded in one continuous take. You will only be able to attach one video to your application.
- Two contrasting études from Rose 32 Études for Clarinet. Rose Études required for TMEA All State auditions in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will not be accepted.
- Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 - 1st movement exposition m. 57-154 (may be played on Bb clarinet if no A clarinet is available)
- One solo piece of the applicant's choosing, approximately 5 minutes in length (selections from a longer work can be used)
- Two contrasting orchestral excerpts
Zoom (Virtual) Audition, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Gunn
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
Flute
Audition Videos
Recording Notes
- Piano accompaniment is optional
- Each selection, including movements from multi-movement works, may be recorded in separate videos
Repertoire
- Mozart: Concerto in G major, K. 313 – Mvt. 1 in its entirety. The cadenza is optional.
- Choose three (3) additional pieces or études that demonstrate musical and technical abilities, and represent a variety of styles, tempos and time periods. Please do not choose two pieces from the same work or étude book. You are encouraged to choose pieces that demonstrate your best qualities. Online resources for possible repertoire may include IMSLP or No Broken Links, though you are free to offer any music that best presents your abilities.
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 20 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Gedigian
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Lesson
Oboe
Audition Videos
- One movement from a piece of your choice
-
Choose a piece from the following:
- Alyssa Morris: Four Personalities
- William Grant Still: Incantation and Dance
- Ruth Gipps: The Piper of Dreams
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 20 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Parker
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application
- Short lesson
Saxophone
Audition Videos
-
Technical Requirements
- 12 Major Scales and Chromatic Scale, full range and performed from memory
-
Repertoire Requirements
-
Two contrasting movements from the standard repertoire such as:
- Maurice: Tableaux de Provence
- Creston: Sonata, Op. 19
- Ibert: Concertino da Camera
- Tomasi: Ballade
- Glazunov: Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 109
- Milhaud: Scaramouche
- Heiden: Sonata for Alto Saxophone in E-flat and Piano
- Villa Lobos: Fantasia
- Or other works of similar scope and difficulty
-
Two contrasting movements from the standard repertoire such as:
-
Accepted Substitutions
- Two études (one lyrical and one technical) from Forty-Eight Etudes by Ferling/Mule (published by Leduc), or similar etude study, may be substituted per movement of repertoire selection.
- Ferling études required for TMEA All State auditions or ATSSB in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will not be accepted.
-
Examples:
- A student who elects to play a single movement from Heiden’s Sonata, must then also have two études (one lyrical, one technical) prepared
- A student who elects to play only études must present four études (two technical and two lyrical)
Zoom (Virtual) Interview, if invited
- Length: 15 minutes
-
Interview will include:
- Interview with Professor Page
- Audition: Be prepared to perform any of the selections that were uploaded to your application