Placement & Auditions
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NEC Preparatory School has an open enrollment policy. Students of any level of ability or experience are invited to take placement auditions/interviews for private instruction, but due to space limitations we can only place a small number of beginning students each fall. Faculty department chairs will make every effort to place students with an appropriate private instructor. Admission to ensembles is by audition. Participation in the music theory program also requires an evaluation test to determine appropriate placement.
Many students’ first audition experiences are at the Prep School. Auditions provide an opportunity for the student to demonstrate his/her skills as a musician, and are required for private teacher placement, large ensemble admission and placement, and chamber music placement. Since different faculty members are in charge of each of these aspects of the program, students are often required to take multiple auditions. Many of the large ensemble auditions are videotaped for later review by the conductors committee.
Students are often asked to prepare two contrasting pieces for an audition. For instrumentalists, this usually means a fast, technical piece and a slower, more lyrical piece. Two movements of the same work can be used, or contrasting sections of the same work. Due to limited audition time, students may be asked to start playing in the middle of a piece, and will often be stopped before the end of a piece. Audition pieces should be pieces the student knows well, which demonstrate his/her range of technical abilities and musicianship. The advice and help of the student’s private teacher should be requested in determining and preparing appropriate pieces for the audition. Students may also be asked to sightread.