Requirements

UPDATED JANUARY 7, 2022

All piano applicants are required to submit the prescreening requirements listed below with the application. Applicants will be informed if they are invited to attend an audition or have been denied in prescreening. If invited, non-Artist Diploma applicants will attend a virtual audition. Note that you will have the option to submit additional audiovisual recordings to supplement your virtual audition. Artist Diploma applicants will audition in person in San Francisco.

All repertoire must be performed from memory.

Prescreening

Each selection of the prescreening repertoire must be submitted as an unedited audiovisual recording. Include the name of the piece being performed at the very beginning of the recording and/or in your uploaded description.

Movements from multi-movement works may be in separate video files.

Undergraduate

Applicants must have at least 20 minutes of recordings submitted.

• One Allegro movement of a Classical period sonata
• One work from the Romantic era. Individual movements from larger works are acceptable.
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti
• Additional contrasting works may be included to fulfill the minimum time requirement.

Graduate and Professional Studies Certificate

Applicants must have at least 30 minutes of recordings submitted.

• One Allegro movement of a Classical period sonata
• One work from the Romantic era. Individual movements from larger works are acceptable.
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti
• Additional contrasting works may be included to fulfill the minimum time requirement.

Artist Diploma

Applicants must have at least 60 minutes of recordings submitted.

Solo repertoire representing three diverse musical periods. At least two must be large-scale works and performed in full.

Final Audition Repertoire

Undergraduate

Applicants must have at least 30 minutes of recordings submitted.

• One polyphonic work from the Baroque Period, such as 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 étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti
• Two additional works or movements of contrasting style.

Graduate and Professional Studies Certificate

Applicants must have at least 50 minutes of recordings submitted.

• One complete Classical work by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert
• One étude of virtuosity by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, or Ligeti
• Two additional works or movements of contrasting style.

Artist Diploma

A program of at least 70 minutes of solo repertoire. Three diverse musical periods must be represented. At least two must be large-scale works.

As we strive to have a more equal representation of genders, ethnicities, and cultures in our repertoire, we encourage applicants to include one work composed by a woman and/or person from a historically underrepresented racial/ethnic group.

For audition dates, please visit Auditions.