Saxophone Audition Requirements

Undergraduate (B.M./B.A.)

For more information on auditioning, please visit the UI Saxophone Studio website.

Auditionees are expected to have had private instruction, but it is not a prerequisite.

  • All major and minor scales (as many versions as possible) at a minimum tempo of quarter note = 80 x 4 (sixteenth notes)
  • Chromatic scale
  • Two contrasting solo pieces (one lyrical and one technical) with or without piano. When pieces with piano are chosen, please bring an accompanist if possible. You may choose compositions from this list, or choose works that are of similar difficulty. It is important to choose works that showcase your strengths as a musician.

Sample repertoire:

ALTO/BARITONE
Aria — Eugene Bozza
Concertino— Eugene Bozza
Sonata — Paul Creston
Concerto — Alexandre Glazunov
Concerto — Jascha Gurewich
Sonata — Bernhard Heiden
Concertino da camera— Jacques Ibert
Sonata — Lawson Lunde
Tableaux de Provence — Paule Maurice
Ballade — Alfred Reed

TENOR
Prelude et Divertissement — Robert Clerrise
Fantasia — Hector Villa-Lobos
Contest Caprice — Leroy Ostransky
Solo for Tenor Saxophone Player — Larry Teal

Graduate (M.A./M.F.A./D.M.A.)

  • All major and minor scales (extended to altissimo range if possible) at a minimum tempo of quarter note = 120 x 4 (sixteenth notes)
  • Chromatic scale, diminished scales, and whole-tone scales
  • Two contrasting solo pieces (one lyrical and one technical) with or without piano. When pieces with piano are chosen, please bring an accompanist if possible. You may choose compositions from this list, or choose works that are of similar difficulty. It is important to choose works that showcase your strengths as a musician.

Sample repertoire:

SOPRANO
Sequenza VIIb — Luciano Berio
Sonata— Jindrich Feld
Fantasia — Hector Villa-Lobos

ALTO
Aeolian Song (from Concertino) — Warren Benson
Sequenza IXb — Luciano Berio
Concerto— Paul Creston
Concerto — Ingolf Dahl
Prelude, cadence et finale — Alfred Desenclos
Sonata— Jindrich Feld
Suite Rhapsodica — Jindrich Feld
Brillance — Ida Gotkovsky
Variations Pathetiques — Ida Gotkovsky
Elegie et Rondeau— Karel Husa
Concerto — Lars-Erik Larsson
Ballade — Frank Martin
Sonata — Robert Muczynski
Concerto — Robert Muczynski
Cadenza — Lucie Robert
Sonata — John C. Worley

TENOR
Trigon, Op. 31 — Michael Cunningham
Sonata — James Dipasquale
Concertino — Walter Harley
Ballade — Frank Martin
September Sonata — John C. Worley

BARITONE
Six Suites for Cello — J. S. Bach
Sonata — Michael Cunningham
Sonata — Walter Hartley
Sonatina — John C. Worley

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Last updated 4-apr-05