Admission and Scholarships

Students will be asked to perform;

1. two contrasting selections from classical music repertoire, either solos or etudes.

2. major scales through three sharps and three flats (two octaves if possible).

3. sight-reading.

Students will be asked to perform;

1. a contrapuntal work by J.S. Bach.

2. a classical, romantic, impressionistic, or contemporary work.

3. all major scales, two octaves, hands together.

4. sight-reading.

Students will be asked to perform;

1. a contrapuntal work by J.S. Bach.

2. a movement of a classical period sonata.

3. a romantic, impressionistic, or contemporary work.

4. all major scales and one form of minor, four octaves, hands together.

5. sight-reading.

One of the selections must be performed from memory.

Vocal

Students will be asked to perform;

1. two contrasting musical theatre selections from musicals (including film musicals), reviews, operettas, music theatre song cycles or music theatre song literature.

2. one Monologue, not to exceed 60 seconds.

Dance

Students will be asked to dance either a;

• Live Dance Audition. There will be a live dance audition on February 22, 2025. This dance class will be from 2:00-3:00pm and will allow for auditionees to demonstrate their technical skills and comprehension of dance terminology. The class will conclude with participants showing artistic comprehension through learned choreography, taught by an instructor. 

• Video Dance Audition. This option is ONLY available to those who cannot attend the live dance audition on February 22nd. Pre-recorded or live music is permitted but cannot include any inappropriate/offensive language. If you have previous dance experience including ballet and tap or are considering a dance minor, we are requiring applicants to include clips of these styles as well. Applicants will be asked to submit a 1 minute clip performing jazz dance choreography. Technical Jazz elements in the clip must include;

  • 1 jazz pirouette or set of traveling turns.

  • 1 leap/jump of choice.

  • 1 upper body isolation.

  • 1 lower body isolation. 

Attire Requirements:

Students will be asked to wear;

• attire that is form fitting (to see the dancer's lines).

• no baggy clothing (leotards, leggings, or fitted workout clothing in solid colors).

• natural stage makeup for those who prefer it.

• hair that is pulled away from the face.

• proper character heels or boots are preferred for the jazz dance portion. 

Please remember that even though this is on film you are still auditioning. If you do not possess heels or boots, then clean, solid color sneakers or clean black socks will be acceptable.

Ballet shoes and tap shoes are preferred if also submitting the ballet or tap option. If those shoes are not available to you, please wear clean black socks for the ballet portion and clean hard soled shoes for the tap portion. 

Ballet Option Requirements:

Students will be asked to perform;

• 1 Barre Combination including plie, port de bras, and balance variations.

• 1 Barre combination including tendu, rond de jamb (par terre & en lair), and grand battement, En croix.

• 1 Center Adagio Combination including arabesques and developpe (30 seconds max).

• 1 Grand Allegro including glissade, assemble, sissone, grand jete or saut de chat, and pirouettes en dehors (1 minute max).

Entire clip not to exceed 3 minutes.

Tap Option Requirements:

Students will be asked to perform;

• 1 paradiddle set including singles, doubles, triples, and any variations.

• 2 time steps (Can be single, double, triple, quadruple, or ny variation EXCEPT buck time variations).

• 1 tap turn (Can be flap turns, maxi ford, buffalo, etc).

Entire clip not to exceed 1 minute.

If you are currently a Murray State Voice major, and you are looking to change to the Musical Theatre degree, you will submit your audition requirements at your final jury or participate in the group dance class. 

Students will be asked to perform:

A solo/etude in at least three of the following areas (all four preferred):

1. Keyboard Percussion - demonstrate technical facility with two-mallets and/or four mallets (preferred)

2. Snare Drum - demonstrate technical facility within the concert and/or rudimental styles

3. Timpani - demonstrate technical facility on 2-4 drums

4. Drumset - demonstrate several musical styles (medium swing, rock/funk, bossa nova, etc.) with appropriate fills

Sight-Reading:

1. Two-mallet etude

2. Snare Drum etude 

 

Auditions will also include a short interview with the MSU Percussion Faculty.

 

Students will be asked to perform;

1. two contrasting pieces, one in classical style.

2. two scales, two or more octaves.

Students will be asked to perform;

1. two songs of contrasting style from the standard art song repertoire (memorized).

   • Musical theatre repertoire is allowed.

2. sight-reading.

3. tonal memory: singing back four to five pitch patterns.

Taped accompaniments are not allowed. Singing in a foreign language is desirable, but not required.

Students will be asked to perform;

1. two contrasting selections from classical music repertoire, either solos or etudes.

2. major scales through three sharps and three flats (two octaves if possible).

3. sight-reading.