Ensemble Placement 

Audition Information 

Before the beginning of every Fall and Spring Semester, the School of Music holds auditions for placement into the large ensembles – Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra, and 901 Jazz. These auditions are held three days before the first day of class each semester. For the audition, students are asked to perform provided excerpts, scales and sightreading. Saxophone, trumpet, and trombone students will also have an opportunity to improvise over chord changes.

For the Fall Semester, excerpts are posted by the first week of July. For the Spring Semester, excerpts are posted by the first week of December. To download the current audition excerpts, click here. 

Registration for auditions is done through the School of Music’s Jury System. To register for the current auditions, click here. 

Auditions occur behind a blind screen for a panel consisting of the ensemble conductors and the instrument’s applied professor. Once all auditions are completed, students will be notified of their placement via email. It is the student’s responsibility to register for ensembles before the first rehearsal. 

Choral 

Each semester, choir auditions are held for University Singers and Chamber Choir. For the fall semester, students audition the weekend before classes begin. For spring semester auditioned choral ensembles, students audition at the end of the fall semester. The typical choir audition includes performance of a short prepared piece (art song, aria, hymn), sight-reading a short melodic excerpt, and a vocal range check.

Woodwinds, Percussion, & Strings 

Jazz & Commercial Music