Trumpet Audition Requirements
Undergraduate requirements (BM, BME)
Applicants are free to choose music for the trumpet in the “classical” style that best represents them artistically.
• Please prepare two to six selections totaling around fifteen minutes of playing which demonstrates different aspects of the applicant’s artistry (lyrical, technical, etc.).
• Appropriate works include solos, etudes, and orchestral/band excerpts, by any composer.
• Applicants may also perform an original composition.
• Applicants may be asked to play two-octave major scales and possibly sightread.
The University of Illinois is committed to maintaining the “standard cannon” but also encourages everyone to explore new repertoire for the instrument. An excellent resource for new works was developed by one of our graduates and can be found here.
On-campus audition dates can be found here. It is highly recommended that all undergraduate candidates attend an on-campus audition. If you are unable to audition on-campus, please select the “recorded” audition format preference on your supplemental music form. Undergraduate applicants who would like to submit a recorded audition should follow the steps outlined here.
Graduate requirements (MM, DMA)
• The candidate should be prepared to play two complete works originally written for the trumpet from the standard solo repertoire (typically works taken from his/her culminating undergraduate recital). At least one of these should be a multi-movement work. (i.e. Sonata or Concerto). Typical works include Concertos by Haydn, Hummel, Tomasi, Gregson, and Arutunian and/or sonatas by Stevens, Kennan, Hindemith, Ewazen. Single movement works by Honegger, Enesco, and Glazunov (Note: In this situation the Arutunian Concerto is a multi-movement work).
• At least one movement of a solo work on Piccolo Trumpet (original or transcription).
• Scales and Arpeggios.
• Orchestral Excerpts:
• Mussourgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition (Promenade)
• Mahler: Symphony #5 (opening)
• Resphigi: Pines of Rome (off stage)
• Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Ballerina’s Dance and Waltz)
*No exceptions without the prior approval of Professor Daval or Professor Gilreath.
It is highly recommended that all graduate candidates attend an on-campus audition. If an applicant is unable to travel to campus for a live audition, the faculty will accept a recorded audition, and a virtual interview may occur. Graduate applicants who would like to submit a recorded audition should upload the audition directly to their Graduate College application.