Music Audition & Scholarship Program 2024-25

The audition guidelines are listed on the application website. You can review them HERE. We want to hear you at your best! In addition to their prepared solos, instrumentalists may be asked to sight-read. Vocalists should have their music memorized. Music major applicants may be given a brief aural skills assessment during their audition time. If you have questions about your repertoire, please reach out to the faculty of your specific area. You can find their contact information HERE.

While it’s not necessary to wear a tux or formal gown, a good guideline would be to dress professionally. Our auditions are meant to be a time for you to get to know our faculty, and for them to get to know you. As such, these auditions are not blind.

Yes. Because professors are busy listening to auditions for most of the day, there is an opportunity to meet faculty during the Meet the Faculty session on the audition date. These are informal gatherings for each audition area, and are open to students, parents, and guests.

Unfortunately due to the audition schedule, faculty are not able to schedule sample private lessons during the scholarship audition days. You are more than welcome to reach out to our faculty directly to schedule a sample lesson (either in person or virtually) at any other time.

St. Olaf provides collaborative pianists for voice auditions only. Instrumentalists may bring a pianist if they like (it is not required or expected), but St. Olaf will not provide one. If you are a vocalist who is providing your own pianist, please let Molly Boes Ganza know in advance, so other arrangements aren’t made unnecessarily.

No, you do not. However, vocalists do need to provide music for the collaborative pianist. Please have it prepared as follows:

• Three-hole punched, optimized for page turns
• Bound in a 1″ hard-cover three-ring binder if possible
• Photocopies are acceptable as long as you have the original score with you

Each student is allowed a 30-minute warm-up period immediately preceding their audition. A specific practice room will be reserved for you. Vocalists: you will have 15 minutes to warm up alone, and your collaborative pianist will join you to run through your pieces 15 minutes prior to the audition. The pianist will then walk you to your audition. Additional practice room time may not be available on the audition day — it’s best to assume you’ll only have 30 minutes.

Some audition locations are in different buildings than the warm-up space and may require you to walk outdoors between buildings (a short distance), so you may wish to keep your coat and instrument case with you.

Please contact Associate Dean of Fine Arts Recruitment Molly Boes Ganza at 507-786-3297 or boes1@stolaf.edu.