Strings

Click here for Undergraduate degree options (Bachelor of Arts/Music/Science)

Undergraduate Admission Requirements

Please see information on the School of Music Application Process.

Audition Requirements

•  Perform an audition, up to 10 minutes, on your major instrument for the area faculty.
•  Your audition should include two or three contrasting movements, or compositions, such as a slow and fast movement, representing the candidate’s technical and musical ability. The candidate is strongly encouraged to include in these choices a movement of a standard concerto, and (with the exception of bassists) a movement of solo unaccompanied Bach.
• An accompanist is optional

Guitar

• Two movements or compositions in contrasting character or style, such as a fast and slow movement of a Sor Etude, Nos. 11-20 (Segovia edition)
• A movement of a Bach Suite (or the equivalent)

Degree Requirements

See your worksheet below for details. This is the document your advisor will use to keep track of your degree progress.

• M.M. String Performance (for Cello, String Bass, Viola, & Violin)
• M.M. Guitar Performance

Admission Requirements

Please see information on the School of Music Application Process.

• Recordings: As part of your application, you will submit up to 5 links (URLs) to videos of yourself performing a total of 20-30 minutes of music. The easiest way to do this is by posting the video(s) on YouTube. You may be invited for a live audition recital based upon the quality of your video(s) and supplementary application materials.
• Audition: If you are invited to audition, please prepare a 15-minute recital with the following repertoire. Please note that an accompanist is NOT required. Solo auditions are encouraged!
  • Violin
    1. Two contrasting movements of a Bach solo partita or sonata
    2. One movement of a standard concerto
    3. A Paganini caprice or an additional contrasting work
  • Viola
    1. Two contrasting mvts. of a Bach Cello Suite, or Solo Violin Sonata or Partita
    2. One movement of a standard concerto
    3. One movement of a viola sonata
  • Cello / Guitar / String Bass
    At least two or three contrasting selections, for example a movement from a major concerto (for most players this would mean a romantic concerto but it could also be twentieth century), one movement or more of unaccompanied Bach, and perhaps something else of your choice.

Admission Requirements

Please see information on the School of Music Application Process.

• Recordings: As part of your application, you will submit up to 5 links (URLs) to videos of yourself performing a total of 20-30 minutes of music. The easiest way to do this is by posting the video(s) on YouTube. You may be invited for a live audition recital based upon the quality of your video(s) and supplementary application materials.
• Audition: If you are invited to audition, please prepare a 20-minute recital with the following repertoire. Please note that an accompanist is NOT required. Solo auditions are encouraged!
  • Violin
    1. Two contrasting movements of a Bach solo partita or sonata
    2. One movement of a standard concerto
    3. A Paganini caprice
    4. An additional work of the applicant’s choice
  • Viola
    1. Two contrasting mvts. of a Bach Cello Suite, or Solo Violin Sonata or Partita
    2. One movement of a standard concerto
    3. One movement of a viola sonata
    4. (optional) Short contemporary or virtuosic work
  • Cello / Guitar / String Bass
    At least two or three contrasting selections, for example a movement from a major concerto (for most players this would mean a romantic concerto but it could also be twentieth century), one movement or more of unaccompanied Bach, and perhaps something else of your choice.

Degree Requirements

• See D.M.A. String Performance degree worksheet for details. This is the document your advisor will use to keep track of your degree progress.

Doctoral Minor – Required for all Doctoral programs

The purpose of the doctoral minor is to add breadth and depth to the D.M.A or Ph.D degree. To insure coherence a minor program must be approved by the appropriate department, a student’s advisor, and the Director of Graduate Studies, and must include courses at the 300-level or above. Typically, a minor requires 12 credits of work.

Students have a variety of options, including completing an internal minor within the School of Music (e.g., a D.M.A. conducting student who minors in ethnomusicology or a Ph.D. in music theory who minors in clarinet performance), completing a minor in a department outside the School of Music (e.g., a D.M.A. in horn performance who minors in Women’s Studies or a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology who minors in East Asian studies).

Students may, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, devise a distributed minor that brings together courses from a variety of departments around a particular topic or area of interest. For example, a D.M.A. student in voice devises a minor in vocal health that includes courses in communicative disorders, or a Ph.D. student in musicology devises a minor in Medieval History that includes courses in art history, history, and languages.