College Audition Help

[jtm]

I'm intrigued that being a skilled tuba player will make a prospective engineer more attractive to a college engineering program... but I'll defer to those with more recent college admissions experience.

Pursuing a music minor is great if music floats your boat and you can afford the additional classes to make that happen.

I got into engineering school assuming I wouldn't have time for school music, so I can't speak to that question directly. But when I did join marching and concert bands the next year (because I missed playing), the engineering school actually sponsored a small scholarship for engineering students in the band. I suppose it was to make it slightly more possible for students to avoid trying to fit a part time job in with all the other stuff.

[Pat S]

Hearty high five to your university for sponsoring a scholarship to help make future engineers more well-rounded!

[wgw327]

Is it possible to overdo a college audition? My current line up is looking like Mvt. 1 - Gregson Concerto, Newton - Capriccio, and Rachmaninoff - Vocalise

(I can only submit ten minutes worth of music in three separate files, so I have to be strategic about what I want to pick: currently I think I'm covering all the bases of a well-rounded audition, high listing every aspect of my playing).

[matt g]

I'm intrigued that being a skilled tuba player will make a prospective engineer more attractive to a college engineering program... but I'll defer to those with more recent college admissions experience.

Pursuing a music minor is great if music floats your boat and you can afford the additional classes to make that happen.

Depends on the school, but getting students involved with more school based activities (especially ones that provide monetary assistance) usually gets kids to stick around longer and finish degrees. This usually means more money for the school in the long run.

Also depending on the school, but some music minors can be a fairly small investment.

OP seems to have a good handle on this. For other students or parents with children getting close to this age, it’s worth doing some research.

[matt g]

Is it possible to overdo a college audition? My current line up is looking like Mvt. 1 - Gregson Concerto, Newton - Capriccio, and Rachmaninoff - Vocalise

(I can only submit ten minutes worth of music in three separate files, so I have to be strategic about what I want to pick: currently I think I'm covering all the bases of a well-rounded audition, high listing every aspect of my playing).

This is a pretty solid lineup.

If you can get the stuff recorded accompanied it might help? Tuba solo rep usually sounds way more “musical” when backed up with a competent pianist.

[bloke]

Have the teacher at the school listen to you - IN PERSON - prior to the "formal" audition, and make recommendations.
They're going to want you in their studio and as part of the band (orchestra?), and they're going to want your "formal" audition to be strong.

(psst... Go ahead and ARRANGE this, and quit reading crap that people are posting here - for each other to read - as if you're not reading their comments, nor interested in actually addressing your needs/concerns.)

[wgw327]

UPDATE: I can only submit two contrasting works. Any suggestions for what repertoire from the following would be the best pairing?

Handel - Sonata No. 6
Haddad - Suite
Rachmaninoff - Vocalise
Marcello - Sonata in F
Uber - Sonatina
Gregson - Concerto (Mvt. 1 only; possibly)
Capuzzi - Andante and Rondo

*I'm kind of leaning towards the Handel Sonata and the Haddad Suite, but I'm not too sure.

[russiantuba]

Exactly... For specifics, I am applying to William and Mary (a top liberal arts program, with an almost unknown music program). I plan to major in Business with a minor in Music. I'll be playing in their ensembles, but am really just looking to use tuba as my way in, rather than as an end goal. Would it help if I attached a few audio files of my current playing ability based on good recordings I've gotten the past few years?

Less is more. As someone who helps determine acceptance for music majors and minors along with funding opportunities, I personally want to hear you at your best and what you have to bring us. Making the Gregson really sing with polish and maybe an etude that demonstrates your lyrical/expressive abilities, especially for a non major, will get you more than playing a couple more solos. I know many of my colleagues feel the same.

One of the best ways to know for sure on audition requirements is to contact the applied faculty member at the school (or the chair if you don’t get a response) on any program specific information.

Also, don’t send the audio files to a group of strangers. Send them to the program applied professors you want to study with or better yet, schedule a lesson and work with them first.

[russiantuba]

I'm intrigued that being a skilled tuba player will make a prospective engineer more attractive to a college engineering program... but I'll defer to those with more recent college admissions experience.

Pursuing a music minor is great if music floats your boat and you can afford the additional classes to make that happen.

I have personally been in a situation like this. Our pharmacy program at ONU is a top ranked program in the country. I had a very talented prospective that wanted to attend for pharmacy and minor in music. They were better than a lot of the music major applicants, so we worked with pharmacy for acceptance (I don’t think they would have had an issue), but also being a liberal arts school, I was able to offer them a substantial music scholarship. It is a 7 year program, so 7 years of a talented non major involved in our ensembles is what I want.

[Mary Ann]

Reminds me of the "rule of scholarships" I have noted, which is the less likely you are to be able to make a living with something, the more likely you are to get a scholarship to study it in college. I was a 4.0 student in engineering but never got an engineering scholarship until my senior year, and then it was something like a $100 stipend, but I had full tuition scholarships just to play in the orchestra and not even take a music course. It's kind of sad but that's the way it is. Maybe the OP will get a scholarship from the music department even if he isn't studying music.

[Uncle Buck]

This has already been said, but I'm going to say it in a different way: Those listening to auditions want to hear what you CAN play, well, and make good music with. Nobody wants to listen to something anyone can ALMOST play, even if pretty darn close.

And none of us on this thread can tell you which of the literature you (and others) have referred to falls into which category. But FWIW, I was told (in person, first hand) by an individual whose name most on this board would recognize, that he successfully auditioned for his job (as the tuba professor at a University that's currently a member of the Big Ten athletic conference) playing the Haddad Suite. There's no doubt he could have played more "technically challenging" literature, and played it well. But he (a pretty darn good composer too) chose a well-composed piece, and I'm sure he made some really effective music during his successful audition.

[wgw327]

Thanks all! I reached out to the tuba teacher and he is more than happy to listen to a couple recordings and give me some feedback. Hopefully this process will go smoothly and I can present myself well.