You'll be great. Trust us.

We're all ears. Before we became players, singers, conductors, and composers, listening was our first love. And it's still the skill that underlies everything we do at SFCM. Hearing who you are and how far you've come is the first step toward a beautiful musical partnership. We can't wait to hear you.

Audition Requirements: Piano

Acceptance into the Piano program at SFCM requires pre-screening.

Live auditions at the Conservatory are required of the following applicants:

• Applicants residing in California

Regional auditions are available for the following applicants:

• Applicants residing outside of California

Final audition recordings are accepted from the following applicants:

• Undergraduate applicants residing outside of California*

*Final Audition Recordings for undergraduate applicants will be reviewed in December. Note that after reviewing, the faculty may request that you have a live or regional audition in the spring, or other campus visit.

Final recordings must be submitted online through the formal Application, found here, no later than December 1.

Pre-screening

All applicants auditioning live at SFCM or at a regional site must submit an unedited audio-visual recording of the pre-screen repertoire below. Complete works must be done in one take. Your recordings can be in one combined file, but make sure to include a list of pieces performed and the time they start at the very beginning of the video. Applicants auditioning by Final Audition Recording, including all USA Schools of Music applicants, do not need to submit the pre-screening repertoire, and should only submit the Final Audition repertoire.

Undergraduate (recording must be at least 20 minutes in length)

• One complete Classical period sonata
• One complete and substantial Romantic period work of at least 10 minutes in length
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti

Graduate and Postgraduate (recording must be at least 30 minutes in length)

• One complete Classical period sonata
• One complete and substantial Romantic period work of at least 10 minutes in length
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti

Final Audition Repertoire

Undergraduate

• One complete Baroque work (a prelude and fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier or a fugal movement from a suite)
• One complete Classical work by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert
• One complete Romantic work from the 19th century
• One complete Contemporary work from the 20th or 21st century
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti

Graduate and Postgraduate

• One complete major work of Bach (partita, toccata, suite, or prelude and fugue, etc.)
• One complete Classical sonata
• One complete Romantic work equal in difficulty to a Chopin ballade or scherzo
• One complete Contemporary work from the 20th century equal in difficulty to the Copland Variations or the Bartók Suite Op. 14
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti

Audition Dates at SFCM

February 2
February 15
February 16
February 17