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2025 Fall Undergraduate Admissions Guide – Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester

Application Requirements

  1. Application fee: US $100

  2. Videos (see Instrumental/Vocal sections below)

  3. Scores and documents: Required for Composition and Music Theory majors

  4. Official transcripts: Scanned copies in English (if not in English, must be translated and notarized)

  5. Personal statement and essays

  6. Resume/CV, which must include:

    • Name and contact of your current major teacher(s), and dates of study

    • Current school name and year of enrollment

    • Any ensembles you have performed with (school ensembles, youth orchestras, self‑formed groups), with dates

    • Music competitions in high school and results, indicating level (school, regional, state, national, or international)

    • Leadership or officer roles in ensembles, any teaching, theatre, dance, or arts‑related community service

    • Non‑music activities: academic honors, sports or leadership awards, community service, on‑campus jobs

  7. Two letters of recommendation:

    • One from your major (music) teacher

    • One from a core‑academic teacher

  8. English language test score:

    • TOEFL minimum 83 iBT or IELTS minimum 6.5

  9. Repertoire lists from the past five years

Admission Decision Timeline

  • Notifications sent between March 1 and April 15, 2025

Video Guidelines (for Pre‑Screening)

  1. Must be recorded within the last 9 months

  2. Each piece or movement must be recorded separately

  3. Ensure high recording quality

  • For multi‑movement works, unless otherwise noted, each movement should be a separate, unedited video

  • A cappella (no accompaniment) for pre‑screening, unless noted

  • Encouraged to include works by underrepresented composers—reflecting diversity by gender, race, ethnicity, or cultural heritage

Piano

Audition Dates: Feb 14, 21, 28 (2025)

Pre‑Screening Requirements:

  • At least two contrasting pieces, plus one virtuosic etude by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartók, or Ligeti
    (Excludes slow etudes like Chopin Op. 10‑3, 10‑6, 25‑7, or Rachmaninoff Op. 39‑2)

Final Audition (all repertoire memorized):

  1. A virtuosic concert etude by one of the composers listed above

  2. A complete Bach piece with a fugue

  3. A complete Classical sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert

  4. A complete 19th‑century Romantic work

  5. A complete 20th or 21st‑century work

Complete means:

  • All movements of a multi‑movement piece (sonata, suite, etc.) must be played in entirety

  • Complete sets played together (e.g., Schumann Carnaval, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, etc.)

  • Or at least 8 total minutes from different pieces within a set (e.g., preludes by Rachmaninoff or Debussy, Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso or Miroirs, Brahms’ Klavierstücke)

✍️ Composition

Audition Dates: Feb 14, 21 (2025)

Pre‑Screening:

  • Submit 3–4 original works (not more than 4), PDF scores + audio (live or MIDI acceptable)

Instrumental/Vocal Pre‑Screening:

  • Applicants must also meet video requirements for their primary instrument or voice (even Composition–focus pianists)

Composition Interview:

  • Selected applicants receive an interview with a faculty composer (on‑campus or via Zoom)

Instrumental/Vocal Exam:

  • Composition applicants must also complete an instrumental/vocal audition (live or video) by Feb 1, evaluated by the relevant faculty

Instrumental & Vocal Auditions

Violin (Live: Feb 7, 14, 21, 28)

Pre‑Screening:

  • One concerto movement (no slow movement), with or without accompaniment

  • One Bach solo movement

Final Exam:

  1. One concerto movement (e.g., Barber, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Wieniawski, Prokofiev, etc.), virtuoso cadenzas, memorized

  2. Two contrasting movements from Bach solo sonata or partita, memorized

  3. One standard etude (Kreutzer, Fiorillo, Rode, Wieniawski, Paganini, Dont)

  4. Three major and minor scales with arpeggios across three octaves

(…and similar detailed outlines for viola, cello, bass, bassoon, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, trumpet as listed above…)

Clarinet & Other Winds

  • Clarinet (Live Feb 21, 28) – Pre‑screening includes:

    • One Rose 32 etude

    • Mozart Concerto K.622 exposition

    • Beethoven Symphony No. 6, 2nd mov. (mm. 68–77)

    • Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream scherzo (mm. 1–48)

  • Final:

    1. Two Rose etudes (one slow from op. 1,11,13,19,21,31; one fast from op. 10,16,20,24)

    2. Mozart K.622 exposition

    3. Three complete Stravinsky movements

    4. Two orchestral excerpts: Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (movt 1 mm. 474–492; movt 2 mm. 68–77) and Mendelssohn scherzo (mm. 1‑48)

(Analogous details follow for bassoon, oboe, saxophone, trumpet… see original for full specifics.)

Instrument Checklist & Timelines

  • Recording window: Videos must be recorded within nine months prior to audition

  • Live audition dates: January 31, February 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 (varies by instrument)

  • Video deadlines: Upload final audition videos by Feb 1


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