DePaul School of Music Auditions
When to arrive: Please plan to arrive at the
Holtschneider Performance Center (or regional location) at least 30 minutes ahead of your scheduled audition time. If you are unsure of your audition time, please call or email our office to confirm. Our phone number is 773-325-7444, and our email address is
musicadmissions@depaul.edu. We are open every weekday, 9 am to 5 pm (central time).
Check-in: The check-in table will be on the ground floor lobby of the Holtschneider Performance Center. We will assign you a warm-up room thirty minutes prior to your audition. A current School of Music student will bring you to both your warm-up room and your audition room at the appropriate times.
Audition requirements: Please make sure you review and satisfy the audition requirements for your specific instrument.
Click here for the undergraduate requirements (including transfer and Music Education licensure applicants), and
click here for the graduate requirements (including master's degree and post-master's certificate applicants).
All undergraduate applicants to the School of Music are required to pass an entrance audition. Instrumentalists playing saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, string bass, guitar, vibraphone or drum set may choose to perform a classical or jazz audition. Students playing these instruments who wish to schedule both a classical and jazz audition may do so. All others must schedule a classical audition. Please see your instrumental category for audition requirements.
Please note- if you are pursuing the non-performance track for Sound Recording Technology or the Bachelor of Science for Performing Arts Management, you do not need to perform a live audition.
Private jazz studio instruction and auditions are
not available at DePaul for the following instruments: Cello, Electric Bass, Euphonium, French Horn, Organ and Electronic Keyboards, Tuba, Viola, Violin, or Woodwinds other than Saxophone.
Accompaniment: Instrumental auditions are unaccompanied. Vocal auditions are accompanied. We will provide an accompanist for all voice applicants auditioning on campus, and the accompanist will be included in a portion of the student’s warm-up time. Students using our accompanist should bring an additional copy of their sheet music. There is no fee for the accompanist. Voice applicants may also choose to bring their own accompanists.
Applicants performing an audition at a regional location are responsible for their own accompanist.
Rescheduling: You are allowed to reschedule your audition time once, based on availability. If you need to cancel or reschedule your audition, please contact our office. Please note: if you cancel your audition and do not reschedule it, your application to the DePaul School of Music will be withdrawn.
Travel: The Holtschneider Performance Center is located at 2330 N Halsted St in Chicago. DePaul's Lincoln Park campus is easily accessible by car and public transportation. Several airlines fly to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports. Click here for general travel directions to campus and to view a campus map.
Parking: Parking information will be relayed via email as the audition season gets closer.
If you are auditioning on a weekday or if the 2400 North Sheffield Building parking lot is full, you may park in the visitor garages at either 2331 N. Sheffield Ave. or 2330 N. Clifton Ave. We can validate parking stubs from either of these DePaul University facilities.
Lodging: DePaul maintains a list of several hotels close to the Lincoln Park campus.
Please note: Masks are not required inside the Holtschneider Performance Center spaces. At the same time, DePaul University continues to be a mask-friendly campus and wearing a mask will be highly recommended for all indoor spaces. Proof of full vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test will no longer be required for entrance into building.