All degree programs at Eastman require an audition, an interview, or both, as part of the admission process. Auditions and interviews afford the opportunity to assess the qualifications of each applicant for admission to the School. They also give applicants the opportunity to evaluate Eastman as a place of study. The main audition season is early in the spring semester each year, typically on 5 or 6 Fridays spanning the end of January to the beginning of March. Remote audition opportunities (via recording, Zoom, or a combination of both) are also made available for all programs, and take place during the same timeframe.
Performance faculty members are expected to be present for all audition days in the spring semester. According to our School policy, permission to be absent on an audition days must be obtained, in advance, from the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. Once approval is received, faculty members are responsible for communicating these absences in writing to the Director of Admissions. Our expectation is that faculty seek this approval early in the fall semester so that the Admissions Office has plenty of time to make alternate arrangements to accommodate any approved absences.
In Rochester we accommodate up to 350 applicants per audition day, with a resulting 600 appointments or more each day. Generally, audition days run from 9am until 6pm. In some cases, auditions run later into the evening. All aspects of the audition process are handled by the Admissions Office, including planning and scheduling. Questions with regard to the admissions process should be directed only to the Admissions Office. Candidates apply though an online application, and are scheduled appropriately following submission of their application. Only the Admissions Office can make changes to a candidate’s admission schedule or audition date. Faculty and staff should always refer applicants to the Admissions Office for any questions or changes to an application.
For undergraduate applicants, the audition day at Eastman includes a general welcome meeting, a question-and-answer session for families, and the instrumental/vocal audition itself. Composition, music education, and theory majors will have interviews scheduled with faculty members from those departments.
Graduate applicants attend the general welcome meeting on audition days. In addition to the instrumental/vocal audition, most graduate applicants will be scheduled for at least one meeting. Interviews will be scheduled according to the requirements of the degree programs and majors.
All applicants and their guests are invited to take tours of the Eastman campus and Sibley Music Library on audition days.