Graduate Diploma & Graduate Performance Certificate

Prescreening:

• Snare Drum – Delecluse Etude No. 1 from 12 Etudes pour caisse claire. Play from beginning to downbeat of measure 46.
• Two Mallets – Any movement from J.S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin or Suites for solo cello, no repeats.
• Four Mallets – A 2–3 minute excerpt from a work of your choice.
• Timpani – Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4. First movement, 2 before T to 3 before U.

Live Auditions:

• 2 Snare etudes, with one of them in the rudimental style (Studies by Delecluse, Pratt, Tompkins or something of similar difficulty)
• Snare excerpts – 3 orchestral excerpts from the standard repertoire 
• Demonstrate a long snare drum roll: crescendo from pp to ff, then diminuendo back down to pp over 20 seconds
• Two Mallets solo
• Four Mallets solo 
• Mallet excerpts – 3 orchestral excerpts from the standard repertoire
• Timpani etude (Hochrainer, Delecluse, Woud or something of similar difficulty)
• Timpani excerpts – 3 orchestral excerpts from the standard repertoire

Please bring an extra copy of your solos and any non-standard etudes to your audition.

NEC 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.

Recorded Auditions:

Please refer to the below guidelines when preparing and recording your audition.

• Recorded auditions must consist of 15 minutes of video recorded in one continuous take. 
• Selections must be chosen according to the final audition requirements as listed below
• You are encouraged to play a mixture of solos/etudes and orchestral excerpts. You must include the snare roll, but otherwise may exercise your best judgment in making selections
• We would like to hear a range of repertoire with technical and stylistic differences
• Please upload scans of your solos and any non-standard etudes with your recordings
• Please pay close attention to the sound quality of your recording so that the jury can accurately assess your playing