At the end of the Fall semester at Baldwin Wallace University, the Conservatory of Music will be hosting auditions for students to join the program in 2021.

Due to COVID-19, BW students and perspective students have a choice this year to choose between submitting a prerecorded audition or having a live audition over zoom.

The auditions are a two-step process. First, students have to meet the requirements for BW’s admission standard for academics, said Matthew Miller, the Associate Director of Admission for the Conservatory of Music.

“On the audition side, there are almost always two faculty members either in person or live on zoom that will be evaluating the candidates, based on which instrument, major, or program the students are applying for,” he said.

Faculty members will evaluate students who want to join their specific program.

“If students are applying to programs like Music Education, Music Therapy, Music Theory, Music Composition, or Music History Literature, they also have an interview scheduled with the faculty that run that side of the program,” said Miller.

Depending on what program a student is auditioning for, there are different requirements.  However, students are required to prepare two to three song choices, regardless of the program they are choosing.

“Knowing the major and minor scales are a big factor and making sure you have contrasting songs so they can see your skill set is important,” said Danielle Lykins, the office manager in the Conservatory.

Music Theatre auditions are very different when compared to instrumentalist auditions.

“For Music Theatre, students are asked to prepare three, thirty-two bar cut songs for when they do their zoom audition,” said Miller. “The faculty will discuss those three song choices with them and then ask for them to sing two of them.  They are also asked to prepare a one-minute monologue and a dance which will be shown at the audition.”

Instrumentalists are given song suggestions for when they are choosing their audition piece.

“Each instrumentalist is given suggestions in terms of composers, pieces, or songs that they would like to see performed,” said Miller.  “This is a starting point, so they have an idea of what to start working on as they prepare.”

Formal auditions for the Conservatory of Music will occur from Nov. 14 to Feb. 27.

In order to register, students need to apply with the BW application or the common application.  Students will then receive an email with a link to the applicant portal.

In the applicant portal, students can see all the paperwork and information that the Conservatory has already received and what they still need to provide.  This includes transcripts, test scores, and letters of recommendations.

In the applicant portal, students must pay the $100 audition fee to be able to select an audition date.

“Most of what we are looking for is making sure that they would be a good fit for the Conservatory and a good fit for Baldwin Wallace,” said Lykins.

Further information about the Conservatory of Music majors, the audition process, and applying to the Conservatory can be found on the BW’s website: https://www.bw.edu/schools/conservatory-music/