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.
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 convocation, a question-and-answer session for parents, a diagnostic theory test, a group interview with a staff member (applied music majors), 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 convocation 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 graduate awards indicated on the application forms and according to the requirements of the degree programs and majors.
All applicants and their parents are invited to take tours of the Eastman campus and Sibley Music Library on audition days.
Revised, September 2017