<p>I am looking to apply to NYU this year, as well as audition to the Steinhardt school for their music program. I have read that the University is very research-oriented ,but also offers a great location with global supplement locations. I am playing Mozart's 3rd concerto, with the cadenza, and two movements of Bach's Partita No. 2 (allemanda and giga), in addition to an etude to be determined. I am first in my class, and am a straight-A student. If anyone knows/goes to NYU or is able to 'chance me', as i've seen on other posts, that would be more than greatly appreciated. I thank you.</p>
<p>If you get straight As and you’re first in your class, you’re likely “in” academically (unless you have a very very small class and have never taken any honors or APs)… Musically, well, many people here will tell you how hard it is to chance a music major.</p>
<p>I would recommend looking at Steinhardt’s website to see the requirements to see what is required. Steinhardt is generally not considered to be in the top tier of music programs, the top music schools and conservatories like Curtis, Juilliard, NEC, Rice,etc, but it is still a tough admit, especially on Violin which is incredibly competitive most places you will audition.</p>
<p>This is from their website:</p>
<p>“: 1) Two movements from the unaccompanied sonatas and Partitas by Bach memorized; 2) A first or last movement from a standard Romantic concerto and/or other virtuosic solo piece memorized; 3) A movement of a sonata from the standard repertoire.”</p>
<p>This is a less rigorous then you would find at the top programs, they generally would require knowing a full romantic or 20th century concerto from memory (usually want contrasting movements), could want a lot more Bach and they generally require pieces from different periods, including difficult sonatas and solo show pieces. Etudes and scales are sometimes in auditions, but aren’t common.</p>
<p>The biggest problem you have is having only a Mozart concerto, while some programs may want someone to prepare a Mozart piece or something from the classical era to see if they know the difference between a romantic and classical concerto, it generally is not considered acceptable at the college level as the primary concerto piece. In the high level pre college programs they would disqualify someone above a certain age level using Mozart, that gives you an idea of how high the level is these days. </p>
<p>Put it this way, kids generally audition on pieces like the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Dvorak, Brahms etc, high level romantic concertos with a high degree of difficulty. Plus you also are going to need a high level sonata, something along the lines of the Franck sonata or the like as well.</p>
<p>That said, when I was at NYU years ago they had non majors taking lessons and such, you could always major in something and be part of the music program as a non major. Potentially, if you decide you want to head into music, you could get good private lessons from the myriad of teachers in NYC, and audition into a grad program for an MM.</p>
<p>The other option would be to take a gap year and work on bringing your rep up, and then apply next year.</p>
<p>Just a minor correction to musicprnt’s excellent post-- most major schools do not require a full Romantic concerto (I’m not sure why not) but rather two contrasting movements. As to the comment that “kids generally audition on pieces like the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Dvorak, Brahms etc, high level romantic concertos with a high degree of difficulty.” This is absolutely true, but I can think of many exceptions, a student we know accepted to Curtis playing Barber concerto and a student accepted to Juilliard playing Bruch No. 1. Of course, these are students who have already mastered Sibelius, Tchaik, etc., but the point is that it’s not what you play (if you are within the requirements) so much as how you play it. Mozart is pretty much never used for college auditions with the exception of Curtis, which requires a full Mozart concerto in addition to a full Romantic or post concerto, plus a full Bach suite, Paganini, etc.</p>
<p>thank you all for your input. I am not aiming towards a conservatory such as NEC or Curtis, however. I was aiming more towards a music school within a liberal arts setting. and i have to agree with glassharmonica, that it is really how you play instead of what you play. this is all quite valuable input, and thank you all much for taking time to post. although, a think with musicprnt’s part about the audition requirements coming from NYU’s website… was it from NYU or from Curtis? I could not tell, but when i looked up the audition requirements at NYU, it was certainly not of that par… “Undergraduate and Graduate applicants are required to submit a recording - CD or DVD - of a movement of Bach and a movement of a concerto.” this is what i found there. Anyone offer clearance to the confusion? many thanks</p>
<p>Polish-</p>
<p>That was from the requirements under the string program, here is the link:</p>
<p>[String</a> Auditions - String Studies - NYU Steinhardt](<a href=“http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/strings/auditions]String”>http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/strings/auditions)</p>
<p>I think I know the confusion, the recording seems to be a pre screen. Many or most music schools these days require a pre screening recording, to cut down on the number of people they have to audition live, otherwise they could potentially have to audition literally a hundred or more applicants to the program. They get a prescreen and generally whittle out people they think, from the recording, are not at a suitable level for their program and accept a much smaller number to live audition.</p>
<p>Steinhardt lists the requirements, and they say the first or third movement of a romantic concerto. </p>
<p>As far as it being the playing, Glassharmonica is correct, you could get in on a theoretically ‘less technically difficult piece’ if it otherwise demonstrated high level technique and ability, though generally kids tend to go in with the high level pieces I mentioned. But as GH pointed out, the person doing that probably already has mastered the other pieces and chose to do Bruch or whatever because they felt it showcased their ability better. </p>
<p>However, if you come in with a Mozart concerto and they ask for a romantic concerto,I would be really shocked if they accepted that, I would bet pretty good money they would reject someone for doing that. (BTW, the requirements I posted are not likely to be for Curtis, they have some of the toughest audition requirements around, tougher then the other top conservatories:). </p>
<p>One way would simply be to shoot an e-mail to the admissions office and ask them if auditioning on the Mozart would be acceptable, I am sure you would get an answer one way or the other:)</p>
<p>thank you so much for clearing that up; i see where the requirements are. And i will take the advice to email an admissions counselor about the Mozart. You have been very helpful. i will keep this post updated for the sake of others who might want to see as well. :)</p>