2022/2023 Conservatory Piano Audition Requirements
Pianists interested in audition for Merit’s Conservatory can choose to prepare the requirements from either Category A or Category B below. Please select the category that best matches your current skill level. All auditioning pianists should prepare:
- Solo piece(s) from the suggested repertoire list below
- The appropriate scales listed below for your selected category
- Piano duet: this year’s selected duet repertoire is now available! Scroll down and click the links to view the repertoire. You must learn both the primo and secondo parts.
- Sight-reading repertoire will be provided to you during your live audition
Audition Instructions:
New Students (students who are not enrolled in the 2021/2022 Conservatory Piano Program) will need to submit a video recording as part of a prescreening process. Recordings must include performances of the TWO solo pieces from your selected category (see below) but do not need to include scales, duet repertoire, or sight-reading. Submissions can include separate videos for each solo piece; however, each piece must be performed in its entirety in one take. In other words, performance videos may not be edited or spliced together to include multiple takes of the same piece. All videos included in your prescreening submission must have been recorded no earlier than January 1, 2022.
More information on how to submit your prescreening videos will be available on Merit’s website when audition sign-ups are available March 15, 2022. Prescreening video submissions will be due not later than April 1, 2022 (updated 2.18.22). Students who pass the prescreening round will be invited to register for an in-person audition which will take place on April 30th or May 7th. Invitations to join the in-person audition will be sent on April 8th.
Returning Students (students who are enrolled in the 2021/2022 Conservatory Piano Program) do not need to submit prescreening videos and will be welcome to register for an audition time slot on April 30th or May 7th. Returning students should plan to perform their solo piece, scales, duet piece, and sight-reading during their live audition.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
Category A
Scales – Please be prepared to play:
- All major and harmonic minor scale up to 4 sharps or 4 flats
- 4 octaves in parallel motion
- Tempo: quarter note = 132 (the scale should be played in eighth notes/ two notes per metronome click)
Prepare two solo pieces from different historical periods listed below. At least one of the pieces must be from the Baroque or Classical period.
Note: Students enrolled in the 2021/2022 Conservatory Piano Department only need to prepare one solo piece.
Baroque – a two-part invention by J. S. Bach (except Invention no.1 in C major) or polyphonic piece of similar difficulty.
Classical – a fast movement from a sonata by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven similar to the level of the sonatas listed below:
- Beethoven- Sonata in G major, Op. 49 No 2, mov 1
- Haydn- Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:35, mov 1 or 3
- Mozart- Sonata in C major, K. 545, mov 1
Romantic – a composition from the list below or another piece of similar level.
- Chopin – Mazurka in A minor, Op.67 no.4
- Grieg – from Lyrics Pieces: Elegie Op.38, or Butterfly from Op. 43
- Tchaikovsky – March or April from The Seasons
20th / 21st century- a composition from the list below or another piece of similar level.
- Bartok- Evening in the Country
- Dett- Honey (Humoresque) from In the Bottoms
- Price- Silk Hat and Walking Cane from Dances in the Canebrakes
- Prokofiev – Tarantella from Music for Children, Op.65
- Shostakovich – Fantastic Dance No. 1 from Three Fantastic Dances
Piano duet- This year’s specific duet music will be posted to Merit’s website on April 1st and you will have 4 weeks to prepare. Two duet options per age group will be posted; you are welcome to choose to learn whichever one composition you prefer however you must prepare both the primo and secondo parts.
Sight-reading– You will be provided sight-reading repertoire during the live audition.
Category B
Scales– Please be prepared to play:
- All major and harmonic minor scales up to 6 sharps or 6 flats
- 4 octaves in parallel motion
- Tempo: quarter note = 90 (the scale should be played in sixteenth notes/ four notes per metronome click)
Prepare two solo pieces from different historical periods listed below. At least one of the pieces must be from the Baroque or Classical period.
Note: Students enrolled in the 2021/2022 Conservatory Piano Department only need to prepare one solo piece.
Baroque – a three-part invention or prelude and fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach (except Prelude and Fugue in C major, WTC vol. 1, BWV 846)
Classical – a fast movement from a sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven similar to the level of the sonatas listed below (except Haydn Hob: XVI 35, Mozart K.545 or, Beethoven Op.49 No. 2)
- Beethoven- Sonata No. 1in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1, mov I or IV
- Beethoven- Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14 No. 2, mov I or III
Romantic – any composition by Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Rachmaninov or other Romantic composer similar to the level of:
- Chopin- Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1
20th/21st century – a composition from the list below or another piece of similar level.
- Barber – Excursions, Op. 20 No.1
- Bonds- Troubled Water
- Burleigh- From the Southland
- Coleridge-Taylor- any movement from Valse Suite for Piano “Three-Fours”, Op. 71
- Copland – Cat and Mouse
- Price- In Sentimental Mood
- Prokofiev – Montaque and Capulets, Op. 75 No. 6
- Shostakovich – any Prelude and Fugue
- Villa-Lobos- Bachinanas Brasileiras, No. 4, Preludio
- Walker- Prelude and Caprice
Piano duet-This year’s specific duet music will be posted to Merit’s website on April 1st and you will have 4 weeks to prepare. Two duet options per age group will be posted; you are welcome to choose to learn whichever one composition you prefer however you must prepare both the primo and secondo parts.
Sight-reading– You will be provided sight-reading repertoire during the live audition.