Brass Audition Requirements
French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone and Tuba

1. One solo work (or movement from a concerto/sonata) 

2. Two contrasting etudes, short solos, or character pieces that demonstrate your instrumental strengths

3. Choose ONE of the two options below (A or B):
A) Two contrasting orchestra excerpts 
Or
B) A piece/solo/etude/tune that demonstrates your area of expertise 

Note: Shortlisted candidates will receive an additional short study piece on the day of audition. Major and minor scales may be tested during the audition at the discretion of the audition panel.

Composition Interview Requirements

Scores and Recordings
Candidates are required to submit a portfolio of scores and recordings of 3 original scores that best represent the applicant’s abilities. Works should ideally be written for different combinations of instruments/voices (e.g. piano trios, string quartets, large ensembles). Music arrangements or popular genres will not be considered.
Scores must be in PDF format and recordings should be in MP3 format. Recordings may be MIDI renderings of the score, but performances by live performers are preferred. Application materials and scores will not be returned to applicants. 
Shortlisted candidates will be expected to discuss their works, their influences and musical interests in relation to the field of composition at the interview.

Personal Statement
Write a 350 to 500-word personal statement describing ways in which you have demonstrated leadership or taken initiative in projects over the past 3 years. They can be related to music, but do not need to be. Provide details such as the scope or scale of the project, the degree to which you led or initiated it, your role(s) within it and your motivation for initiating it. Additionally, please share some ideas for projects which you could imagine initiating at YST and/or ways you might apply your leadership skills to advance your learning and succeed as a composer. 

Note:
• The extended deadline for submission of composition works is 31 January 2023 - please email your composition portfolio to musadmissions@nus.edu.sg
• However, applicants are still required to submit all other mandatory documents (including personal statement) via the YST Application Portal by 1 December 2022.

Harp Audition Requirements
1. One movement from a standard harp concerto (e.g. Handel, Mozart or Debussy’s Dances)

2. Two contrasting solo works

Note: Shortlisted candidates will receive an additional short study piece on the day of audition. 

Percussion Audition Requirements
1. Snare Drum 
Two contrasting solos or etudes demonstrating snare drum rudiments and rolls

E.g. Mitchell Peters – Intermediate Snare Drum Studies; Charley Wilcoxon – Modern Rudimental Swing Solos; Jacques Delecluse – 12 Studies for Snare Drum; Garwood Whaley – Audition Etudes 

2. Keyboard Percussion 
Choice piece: One solo or etude demonstrating either 2‐mallet or 4‐mallet technique

E.g. Nebojsa Zivkovic – Funny Marimba; David Friedman – Dampening and Pedaling Technique for Vibraphone; Emmanuel Sejourne – 19 Etudes musicales de Vibraphone; J.S. Bach – A selection from a Cello Suite on Marimba 

3. Choose ONE of the two options below (A or B):

A) Timpani – particularly if you are interested in an orchestra-focused curriculum. 

1. Solo piece of choice e.g. Nick Woud – Musical Studies for Pedal Timpani, Symphonic  Studies for Timpani 
2. Additional timpani requirements: Demonstrate tuning skills and rolls of all pitch ranges and dynamic. 

B) Another area of percussion expertise – particularly for those interested in the classical training that YST has to offer, but who may have special expertise outside the traditional orchestral curriculum e.g. drumset, multi‐percussion setup, tabla, congas. 

1. A solo/etude that demonstrates your expertise on your chosen instrument.
2. A second notated, un‐notated, or improvised piece that demonstrates your stylistic/contextual mastery of your chosen instrument.

Piano Audition Requirements
Candidates are required to perform one selection from each of the following five groups:

1. One virtuoso etude by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Scriabin, Bartok, Stravinsky, Moszkowski, Prokofiev, Ligeti, or Bolcom

2. Any Prelude & Fugue chosen from the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach

3. A complete sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, or Clementi (all movements)

4. A major work from the Romantic period*

5. A representative work from the 20th century to the present*

(*See FAQs on Piano Audition Guidelines for further specifications on these categories.)

NOTE: 
• No exceptions or substitutions will be permitted for the above requirements.
• No concerti or transcriptions are permitted.
• Any further questions regarding audition repertoire can be addressed to the Head of Piano Studies, Prof Albert Tiu.

Piano applicants must first submit pre-screening videos (all 5 works from your audition repertoire) to be reviewed by the piano faculty. All audition repertoires must be performed from memory for both pre-screening videos and audition. Each applicant must also submit a Repertoire Validation List of works that you have studied within the last three years as part of the application portfolio.

Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to the Singapore 'live' audition, which will include 2 rounds:

Round 1 (10 February 2023)

Candidates will be required to perform works selected from your audition repertoire list by the audition panel, followed by an interview.

Round 2 (11 February 2023)

Candidates who are in a competitive position for an offer of admission will be invited back the next day. They will be required to perform further works selected from their audition repertoire, and take written tests on their listening and general musical aptitude. Each candidate will also receive a lesson consultation with a major teacher. 

Strings Audition Requirements
Violin
(All violin audition repertoire must be performed from memory.)
1. One caprice from Paganini or Wieniawski 
2. Two contrasting movements of an unaccompanied Bach sonata or partita
3. Either the 1st OR both 2nd & 3rd movement of a standard concerto 

Viola
1. Two contrasting movements of unaccompanied Bach, or one unaccompanied work
2. One movement from a standard sonata (e.g. Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich, Glinka) or comparable work
3. One virtuoso movement from Bartok, Walton, Hindemith, Stamitz or a standard classical concerto

Cello
1. One etude from the Popper High School of Cello Playing or Piatti 12 Caprices (excluding Popper No. 1 and Piatti Caprice No. 1)
2. Prelude and one other movement from Bach Suite No. 4, 5 or 6
3. One of the following pieces:
• DVORAK Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191, Mvt I
• SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129, Mvt I or Mvt II & III
• TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
• ELGAR Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, Mvt I & II
• SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No.1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, Mvt I & III

Double Bass
1. Two contrasting movements of a concerto or sonata
2. Two orchestra excerpts 
3. Major and minor scales and arpeggios, minimum two octaves

Note: Shortlisted candidates will receive an additional short study piece on the day of audition. Major and minor scales may be tested during the audition at the discretion of the audition panel.

Voice Audition Requirements
Candidates are required to perform one selection from each of the following groups:
1. One song or aria in English
2. One song or aria in Italian
3. One song or aria in German or French
4. One song or aria in your native language

Note:
• The four selections above should encompass a variety of music styles and periods and demonstrate your current vocal ability as well as your potential. All selections should be age-appropriate.
• Students are not required to sing an aria, but if they choose to do so, only one aria may be presented and the remaining selections must be art songs.
• All selections must be sung in their original language (no translations), with piano accompaniment and from memory.
• The audition may also include sight-reading of a short musical excerpt.

Woodwinds Audition Requirements
Flute
1. Two contrasting movements of a Baroque or Classical sonata or concerto (e.g. Mozart Concerto in G, KV 313, or a sonata by J.S. Bach)
2. A choice piece from the Paris Conservatory Flute Concours selection

Oboe
1. Two contrasting pieces from different periods.

Clarinet
1. Two contrasting movements from a Classical period concerto
2. Two contrasting movements from a Romantic period concerto

Bassoon
1. Two contrasting movements from a Baroque or Classical sonata or concerto (e.g. Vivaldi bassoon concerto, or Galliard sonata)
2. Two contrasting studies from Weissenborn or Milde Studies

Note: Shortlisted candidates will receive an additional short study piece on the day of audition. Major and minor scales may be tested during the audition at the discretion of the audition panel.