Auditions

Prospective students to Valparaiso University begin the audition process by completing their application to the University
After you log in with your Valpo Admissions Portal credentials, you can select your audition date and time, then complete the supplemental music questions. See the visit day calendar for availability.

The application requires:

• Basic information about yourself and your musical education
• Contact information for a music teacher or director who can provide a letter of recommendation
• *optional – a short, five-minute pre-screening video or audio clip that demonstrates your performing ability in one or two musical selections, chosen from the standard published classical repertoire.

Once your application is submitted, you will receive an email confirming the date and time you selected.

Your visit will include:

• Check-in at a welcome table in the lobby of the Valparaiso University Center for the Arts
• Conversation with Valpo music students and faculty
• Time to warm up
• A private audition with members of the music faculty
• A brief assessment exam in general music knowledge and music fundamentals

We will use the limited time available to get acquainted with you. Feel free to ask for a campus tour as part of your audition visit.

Prepare music to demonstrate your current level of technical ability, musical understanding, and expression. Consult with your music teacher or director for guidance on selections. Your selections should be from the standard published classical repertoire.

Repertoire from state solo music competition lists (such as ISSMA) are generally well-suited to the auditions.

• Instrumental auditions should include two to three prepared works in contrasting styles.
• Organ auditions should include two to three prepared selections in contrasting styles. Organists should also prepare a hymn.
• Percussion auditions should include at least two of the following three areas: mallets, snare, and timpani.
• Piano auditions should include two to three prepared works in contrasting styles; performance majors should play from memory.
• Vocal auditions, for those intending to pursue a performance major, should include three memorized selections, at least one in a foreign language.
• Vocal auditions, for those not intending to pursue a performance major, will include two memorized selections. Both may be in English.

For the audition, each student will be heard in only one performance area. Scholarships are linked to specific performance areas, and music majors are accepted in terms of their principal performance area. Audition in the area of your greatest strength and interest.

Accompanists are available for vocal auditions. The department must receive your request for an accompanist at least two weeks prior to your audition date. Instrumentalists generally present their audition without accompaniment.

If you are unable to make a campus visit to audition, you may request a live virtual audition instead by contacting music@valpo.edu.

Please note that for a Signature Artist Scholarship, which awards up to full tuition, candidates must participate in the November or February on-campus audition days.

Remember:

Consideration for music awards and entrance into the music major is contingent upon a student’s successful application and admittance to Valparaiso University.

Any music scholarship award may be only a part of a larger financial aid package.

You can upload the letter to your application portfolio, or have them email their letter to music@valpo.edu and we can add it to your application.

A short, five-minute pre-screening video or audio clip that demonstrates your performing ability in one or two musical selections, chosen from the standard published classical repertoire. This video can include repertoire that you plan to perform at a live audition.

We recommend registering for your first-choice ensemble at FOCUS, prior to the August audition, to make sure the time and credit are reserved in your schedule.

To request an audition time, fill out the Audition Request Form.
Ensemble auditions will be held during Welcome Week, August 21-24, 2022.  If you complete the audition request form, you will be given an audition time and information will be sent to your Valpo email address closer to Welcome Week.

For information on financial aid, call Admissions and Financial Aid at 219.464.5015 or (toll free) 888.GO.VALPO and ask to speak with a financial aid counselor.

For more information on the music department and music scholarships, call 219.464.5454. Send email inquiries directly to the music office at music@valpo.edu.