Manhattan Pre-College Auditions

College Majors Music Major
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<p>Hi everyone, I'm new here so if this is in the wrong forum, I apologize.</p>

<p>First of all, I am a violinist and plan on majoring in music and becoming a professional musician. I have been looking into pre-colleges and Manhattan Pre-College caught my eye. I was doing research and the audition requirements seem kinda vague on the website.</p>

<p>It says that you should audition with two contrasting pieces. Does anyone have any suggestions for standard pieces that accepted applicants have auditioned with? And if there's any way you can describe the level of difficulty of the program, that would be helpful as well.</p>

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<p>Here is a link to a thread on Manhattan precollege. It has a link within it to another Manhattan precollege thread (which itself has a link to another thread on the same):</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/715127-manhattan-school-music-precollege-audition.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/715127-manhattan-school-music-precollege-audition.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The expectation levels probably differ somewhat according to your age, so the minimally acceptable repertoire for a 9-year-old is quite different from what would be considered minimally acceptable for a 17-year-old. It might help if you shared your age (I suspect that you are not 9, but being 13 or 17 can make a huge difference). </p>

<p>In any case, you need to be more concerned about the calibre of your playing rather than the difficulty level of the repertoire. Well-played Suzuki book 4 repertoire (e.g. Vivaldi concerto movement) will get you much further than will a weak book 10 Mozart concerto movement. </p>

<p>Your private teacher will be in the best position to help you select repertoire that is appropriate for your level of playing and for your set of strengths and skills. </p>

<p>Manhattan’s pre-college program is well-respected and admission is quite competitive.</p>

<p>The audition requirements are deliberately left vague because students apply at so many different ages and levels. Juilliard’s precollege program has audition requirements for violin that are specific to age and that should be a very rough guide as to what would be appropriate at Manhattan (I have deleted the first two Juilliard requirements below as they are the scale and etude requirements which were not of interest to you):</p>

<p>Students through age 11:
3. A slow and fast movement of a concerto by a composer such as deBeriot, Viotti, Rode, Bach, or Mozart.
4. A contrasting piece to No. 3 above.</p>

<p>Students from ages 12 through 14:
3. A slow and fast movement from a concerto by a composer such as Kabalevsky, Mozart, Bruch, Wieniawski, or Lalo.
4. A contrasting piece to No. 3 or a movement of unaccompanied Bach.</p>

<p>Students ages 15 and older:
3. A slow and fast movement from a substantial Romantic or contemporary concerto.
4. One movement of unaccompanied Bach.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much! I’m 15 years old, by the way.</p>

<p>I definitely agree about the caliber of playing affecting whether I’d be accepted or not. I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t show up playing a suzuki level four piece, for instance, and see that everyone else has prepared the Brahms concerto or something. </p>

<p>I’ll definitely be asking my teacher for guidance and help with everything!</p>

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<p>Don’t take the Juilliard list too literally (you probably were not, but just in case): aside from the obvious fact that you are applying to a different program, even the Juilliard list is a “such as” list to give general guidelines. </p>

<p>I think you would be fine with a well-played Wieniawski or Bruch or Mozart though they are on the “such as” Juilliard list for ages 12 to 14. (I leave out Kabalevsky because even though it is good repertoire, it just isn’t as substantial as the other three and is often considered a student concerto: the three I mentioned are widely played by the pros in concert. Lalo has plenty of challenges, and may be fine too, but does not have the musical depth of the others.) And if you have Nadeau’s tone and taste, then I’m sure you could get in with Suzuki book 4!</p>

<p>Best of luck in your planning and preparation!</p>