Scholarship Auditions & Applied Area Placements
Use this page to sign up for a Music Department scholarship audition or an applied area placement. The two ask for the same materials and differ only in their deadlines.
Which one applies to you
- A scholarship audition is for applicants seeking a Music Department scholarship. Scholarship auditions run during the application season, from October 1 to February 15.
- An applied area placement is for admitted students who didn’t do a scholarship audition and need a placement to start lessons in their principal area. Placements run any time up until the second Tuesday of the fall or spring semester. The Department normally holds an in-person placement audition that day, and you can sign up for it or submit your materials by the same date.
A scholarship audition also counts as your applied area placement, so completing one covers both.
What to prepare
The materials are the same for both. What to prepare depends on your area.
Performance
| Area | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Piano | 2 or 3 works of contrasting styles, at least 1 memorized, no more than 10 minutes in total. 20th- and 21st-century works are welcome, and single movements of multi-movement works, such as sonatas or suites, are acceptable. If you play jazz, include improvisation. |
| Voice | 2 contrasting selections totaling no more than 10 minutes, memorized and sung with accompaniment. At least 1 song in a language other than English. Art songs, arias, folk songs, and musical theater selections are preferred. If you sing jazz, include improvisation. |
| Percussion | 2 contrasting works totaling no more than 10 minutes (sections of works are acceptable to stay within the time). Show a contrast of instruments, such as snare drum and marimba. |
| Drum set | Demonstrate these styles: medium-tempo swing, up-tempo 50s bebop, medium-tempo jazz waltz, bossa nova (medium), Afro-Cuban (medium to fast), funk, and hip-hop (any tempo). |
| All other instruments | 2 contrasting works totaling no more than 10 minutes (sections of works are acceptable to stay within the time). If you play jazz, include improvisation. |
At in-person auditions, Bluetooth playback is available for backing tracks.
Composition and music production
| Area | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Composition | 2 original compositions, each with a PDF score and a recording, that best represent your musical potential and creativity. Any genre or instrumentation. A MIDI export from your notation program is fine for the recording. |
| Music production | 2 original songs (audio only) that best represent your musical potential and creativity. Any style is welcome. |
In person or online
You can audition in person on campus in Hayward or submit your materials online. We prefer in-person auditions. If you can’t travel to Hayward, an online submission is accepted in its place.
In-person auditions
Dates for Fall 2027 in-person auditions will be posted shortly. Sign up with the form below, and we’ll email you the available dates to choose from, along with the location and parking information.
Online submissions
Submit links rather than files. Host your videos, scores, and audio on any platform and paste the links into the form. For every link:
- Name each file or video with your name, your area, and the piece, in the form Lastname_Firstname_Area_Title (for example, Rivera_Sam_Violin_Bach-Partita-2). Use the same title for a score and its recording, adding _score or _audio at the end.
- Set sharing so anyone with the link can view. On YouTube, choose Unlisted rather than Private. On Google Drive or Dropbox, choose “Anyone with the link.”
- Open each link in a private or incognito browser window before you submit, to check that it plays or opens without signing in.
Performers
Submit links to high-quality videos of your performance. Record each piece as its own video, or record all your pieces in one video in the order you list them in the form. Keep the camera still and film in landscape, so we see you and your instrument fully (pianists, include your hands). Record in a quiet room, with the microphone close enough to capture your tone clearly. Any video-sharing platform works, such as YouTube.
Composers and music producers
- For composition, submit a link to each PDF score and a link to its recording, named so each score matches its recording. MIDI recordings are fine if your music hasn’t been performed live. Google Drive, Dropbox, SoundCloud, and YouTube all work.
- For music production, submit links to high-quality audio of your 2 songs (WAV, or MP3 at 320 kbps). In each track’s title or description, say what you did on it, such as writing, producing, performing, or mixing. SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube, Google Drive, and Dropbox all work.
Sign up
Sign up for an in-person audition, submit your materials, or request a placement date using the form below. For questions, contact the music office.