The Audition Process (Undergraduate)

 

General Information
Recorded Auditions
Read an *Audition Day Experience*
What to expect at your audition
Theory Placement Test
Piano Proficiency Requirement

 

Audition Dates for 2012Voice Audition

 

Auditions for the Bachelor of Music program will be on the following dates:

Strings:  Feb. 21, 22, March 10, 17, 31, Apr. 12, 13

Voice: Feb. 21, 22, March 10, 17, 31, Apr 12

Piano: Feb. 21, 22, March 17, 31

Guitar: February 21, March 31, Apr 12

Woodwinds
Flute:  Feb. 21, 23, 24, March 10, 17, 31
Sax: Feb. 23, March 10, Apr 12, 13
Clarinet: Mar 17, April 12, 13

Brass
Trumpets & Horns:  Feb. 23, 24, March 17, 31 April 12, 13
Trombones, Euphonium & Tubas: March 17, 31

Percussion: Feb. 23, 24, March 10, 31, April 12

Oboes & Bassoons: by appointment
Please contact Sasha Gorbasew at agorbase@uwo.ca
or 519-661-2111 ext. 80532

Questionnaire, Audition Request Card, Letters of Reference and $50 audition fee are due by February 15, 2012.

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To schedule an audition, all applicants must have applied to Western through the Ontario Universities Application Centre (www.ouac.on.ca). Once students have applied, the Don Wright Faculty of Music will contact them with an audition date and time.

The deadline to apply for students currently enrolled in an Ontario Secondary School is January 11, 2012 Applicants must also submit:

  • An Audition Card (mailed to applicants on receipt of OUAC application).
  • A $50 audition/interview fee. Cheques or money orders should be made payable to The University of Western Ontario. This must be received before an audition or interview can be scheduled (regardless of whether the applicant chooses to bring their own accompanist or use a provided accompanist).

Applicants should also ensure the faculty has received the following by their audition day (mailed to you upon receipt of your application):

Please note that conservatory certificates are not required. Nevertheless, conservatory grades do give some indication of the expected level. For most instruments, Grade VIII is the expected level; for piano, most successful applicants have achieved at least the Grade IX level.

Applicants may audition on two instruments. The Faculty will then suggest which instrument should become the principal instrument of study; only in exceptional cases are students permitted to study two instruments.

 

Recorded Auditions

Applicants are expected to audition in person, but those living outside Ontario, or by special permission, may send a CD or DVD, prepared according to the following conditions:

  • The audition must be recorded on Compact Disc or DVD (preferred) and of high quality.
  • The audition must be completed in one session and the recording must remain unedited.

The recording should be accompanied by a certificate which states that:

  1. The performer is the applicant
  2. The audition was completed in one session, and
  3. The recording is unedited.

This certificate must be signed by a responsible person, other than the applicant, who was present during the taping.

Send recordings on CD or DVD by March 31, 2012 to:

Odilla Van Delinder
Don Wright Faculty of Music
Talbot College Room 210
The University of Western Ontario
1151 Richmond St.
London, ON N6A 3K7

What to Expect at your Audition

Paul Davenport Theatre

*Read an Audition Day Experience*

The Audition Day normally starts by meeting the co-ordinators of the day in the Music Building Lobby. Directions to the Music Building can be found under Contact Us; A map of the main floor for the Music Building (to find the lobby) can be found here. Please note that the music faculty is housed in two buildings: the Music Building and Talbot College. You are looking for the Music Building.

After signing in with the co-ordinators in the Music Building Lobby, applicants are given the opportunity to warm up and/or meet with their accompanist. Applicants may provide their own accompanist, or arrange in advance to have one provided by the Faculty by indicating so on their Audition Card.

Applicants are generally auditioned by two members of the faculty, and the audition will include a brief interview. Applicants should be prepared to play two or three contrasting pieces, preferably from different periods, and some scales and/or studies. All applicants will be given some sight-reading at the audition. For specific instrument requirements, please see the appropriate instrument page:

 

Theory Placement Test

All applicants are required to take an online Theory Placement Test on the day of their audition. The purpose of the test is twofold: firstly, to ensure that the student is registered in the appropriate theory course for first year (which might include a remedial correspondence course in the summer prior to first year) and secondly, as a part of the overall assessment for admission.

Approximately one-third of the Theory Placement Test is devoted to ear-training questions. The remaining parts of the test cover rudiments, harmony and voice leading, figured bass, and questions about phrase structure and simple forms. To prepare, students should review the content in the related conservatory theory rudiments for the expected grade level of their instrument (listed above).

Applicants are asked to take the online Theory Placement Test by March 15, 2012

Theory Placement Test

Instructions on how to complete the online theory placement test



Piano Proficiency Requirement


Piano proficiency is not tested at the audition but students in the Honors Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Musical Arts programs, whose principal instrument is not piano, are required to reach a level of proficiency in piano equivalent to Conservatory Grade VI by the end of first year and prior to entry of second year. Applicants for whom piano is not the principal instrument and who have little or no knowledge of the piano are urged to prepare for the piano requirement as early as possible, preferably before admission to the Faculty.

 

Contact Us

For more information on the Undergraduate Admission Process, please contact:

Odilla Van Delinder
Undergraduate Admissions Assistant
Phone: 519-661-2044
E-mail: ovandeli@uwo.ca

and/or

Sasha Gorbasew
Recruitment Co-ordinator
Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 80532
E-mail: agorbase@uwo.ca

By mail:

Don Wright Faculty of Music
Talbot College Room 210
The University of Western Ontario
1151 Richmond St.
London, Ontario
N6A 3K7

Back to Undergraduate Admissions

 

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