Instrumental auditions should be performed without accompaniment (although playback of electronics on CD or mp3 player is acceptable).

1. Graduate applicants must demonstrate proficiency in the areas described below.
2. In addition, graduate applicants must prepare two (2) standard orchestral excerpts each for snare drum, timpani, and xylophone.
3. Graduate applicants may be asked to sight-read on the instruments below.
4. Graduate applicants to the Contemporary Music program should follow other repertoire guidelines.

Snare Drum:

Perform both of the following, totaling about four minutes:

• Concert étude. Suggested composers: Délécluse, Cirone, Aleo, Peters.
• Rudimental solo. Suggested composers: Pratt, Tompkins, Wilcoxon.

Mallets (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone—your choice)

Perform both of the following, totaling at least four minutes:

• Two-mallet solo. A work of your choice; be creative! Some suggestions are Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin, or Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, or selections from the MassChap 2010 Xylophone Collection.
• Four-mallet solo. For suggestions, see Recommended Solos.

Note: For two-mallet and/or four-mallet solo, creative adaptations of any other composers' works are most welcome. In general, pieces with tempo fluctuations and a variety of rhythms and characters are preferred over perpetual motion pieces.

Timpani

Perform the following, totaling about three minutes:

• Solo piece about three minutes in duration. Suggested composers: Woud, Hochrainer, Firth, Délécluse, Lepak, Macarez, Carter.

Note: Etudes that demonstrate standard orchestral timpani musicianship (e.g., Woud or Hochrainer etudes) are preferred over Carter solos.