Pre-Audition Screening Video Requirements - due by January 5.
Choose TWO (2) compositions from each of the following categories:
- Blues (medium tempo) – Suggested tunes: Billie’s Bounce, Au Privare, Blue Monk, etc.
- Jazz Standard (up tempo) –Suggested tunes: Stablemates, You Stepped Out of a Dream, Star Eyes, What is This Thing Called Love, Airegan, Bolivia, Fee Fi Fum
Format: One chorus melody, two choruses chordal accompaniment, two choruses solo improvisation, one chorus melody.
Audition Requirements
We encourage all applicants, if at all possible, to audition in-person.
- Live audition dates are scheduled during the weekends in February. Review list of audition dates by instrument here.
- Recorded video auditions are available by request and must be submitted by February 1 to your Blue Demon Domain (for undergraduates) or your application portal (for graduates/post-masters), in the “edit portfolio" section. To enable the recorded audition submission, contact musicadmissions@depaul.edu.
Audition Repertoire
1) Choose TWO compositions from the following. Play a chorus of the melody, comp two choruses and improvise over four choruses.
- Dolphin Dance (Herbie Hancock)
- Moment's Notice (John Coltrane)
- I Hear a Rhapsody (Fragos, Baker)
- Conception (George Shearing)
- Ceora (Lee Morgan)
- Confirmation (Charlie Parker)
- Days of Wine and Roses (Johnny Mercer) (play up-tempo)
- Have You Met Miss Jones (Rodgers & Hart) (play up-tempo)
2) Choose TWO ballads to be performed in a solo piano style.
- Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington)
- Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk)
- Soul Eyes (Mal Waldron)
- Old Folks (Willard Robinson)
- Come Rain or Come Shine (Mercer/Arlen)
- Darn That Dream (Van Heusen/Delange)
- But Beautiful (Van Heusen/Burke)
3) Improvise 4 choruses of Giant Steps (John Coltrane) in each of these keys of "C", "Db" and "D"
Recorded Interview Questions (only applicable to those who select a recorded submission to audition)
Please upload a video that is no longer than 2-3 minutes and responds to the below questions:
- What is your musical background?
- Why are you applying to DePaul?