Music - Graduate Pre-Screening Information Fall 2018 Revised 10/2017 Thank you for applying to the Music Department in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. UCLA is currently transitioning to a new admissions system, and this transition has made it necessary for us to alter our admissions procedure and require applicants to submit pre-screening material in a separate online application. Therefore, if you are applying for an MA or PhD in Composition or an MM or DMA in Cello, Conducting, Piano, String Bass, Viola, Violin, or Voice, you must submit online application material in two places: 1) Pre-screening Application: Submit all prescreening material (audition videos or composition portfolio) and your statement of purpose via the Supplemental Application Upload System at https://supplemental.schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/grad 2) Graduate Division Online Application: Submit all core application material, including your statement of purpose, unofficial transcripts, writing sample (if required), and letters of recommendations via the UCLA Graduate Division Online Application (https://grad.ucla.edu/admissions/admission-application-for-graduate-admission/) NB: You must submit your Statement of Purpose in BOTH applications. Please note that, due to the transition to the new admission system, we recommend that you do not begin or continue working on the Graduate Division Online Application until mid-november, when the new application system becomes available. If you have already entered information into the Graduate Division Online Application, the information you have entered (with the exception of any pre-screening material) should be available in the new application system when it launches. However, technical issues may arise, and you may be asked to reenter part of your application. However, you do not need to wait to submit your Pre-screening Application via the Supplemental Application Upload System. You may complete and submit this application as soon as you want. The deadline for submitting both the Pre-screening Application and the Graduate Division Online Application is December 1. Because of the delays caused by the transition, we will continue to accept letters of recommendation through the end of January. Please see the following pages for information about pre-screening requirements and Statement of Purpose prompts. Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we undergo this transition. We look forward to reviewing your application. If you have any questions, please contact admissions@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu. 1
Music Performance (Strings, Voice, and Piano) Applicants for Strings, Voice, and Piano are required to submit a pre-screening audition recording with their applications. Once your pre-screening audition is reviewed, you will be notified if you have been selected for an on-campus audition. Repertoires are available at http://www.music.ucla.edu/repertoires. Should you have any questions about the repertoire or audition prior to submitting your application, the area faculty encourage you to be in touch with them directly. Faculty contact information is listed at https://www.music.ucla.edu/departmentof-music-faculty. STRINGS: Video required. VOICE: Video required. Applicants for MM and DMA programs in voice must submit up to 20 minutes of video with three pieces showing contrasting languages, historical periods/musical styles, vocal skills, and acting/interpretive ability. PIANO: Video preferred, audio acceptable as an alternative to video. At least one audition piece/selection MUST be submitted in video. For pre-screening, MM and DMA applicants must submit recordings representing at least four of the five categories listed in the repertoire requirements. DMA applicants should submit a full one-hour recital. There is no formal time or file size limit set for the media files. However, smaller file sizes (less than 720p) may yield faster and easier upload times from most home Internet connections and will be of sufficient Audio: MP3, M4A, AIFF, WMA, WAV, AAC Statement of Purpose Prompts: Prompt for MM applicants: Please discuss your reasons for applying to UCLA s Master of Music program, and your academic and Prompt for DMA applicants: Please discuss your reasons for applying to UCLA s DMA program in particular, and your academic and 2
Music Conducting Applicants to the Conducting program are required to submit a pre-screening audition video with their applications. Videos must contain at least 15 minutes of rehearsal and 15 minutes of performance footage. Rehearsal video should include significant portions where the applicant stops and rehearses the ensemble, and should demonstrate how the applicant influences the musicians through both physical gesture and verbal communication; run-throughs in rehearsal settings are not considered rehearsal video. Both rehearsal and performance video should be framed from the perspective of the ensemble, with the conductor's face visible. Along with your recording, provide the repertoire you are presenting, as well as the organization being conducted, your connection to that organization, and any comments you wish to make about the video or the recording session. There is no formal time or file size limit set for the video files. However, smaller file sizes (less than 720p) may yield faster and easier upload times from most home Internet connections, and will be of sufficient Statement of Purpose Prompts: Prompt for MM applicants: Please discuss your reasons for applying to UCLA s Master of Music program, and your academic and Prompt for DMA applicants: Please discuss your reasons for applying to UCLA s DMA program in particular, and your academic and 3
Music Composition Applicants to the Composition program are required to submit a composition portfolio for pre-screening. Portfolios must consist of three to five scores utilizing different instrumentation (not just piano) that demonstrate breadth of experience, technical mastery, awareness of 20 th /21 st century styles, and a range of genres and instrumental forces. For MA applicants, at least three scores are required; for PhD applicants, at least five scores are required. Please include a recording of a live performance for at least one of the pieces. Additional recordings, preferably of live performances, may be submitted in addition to scores, but not in lieu of them. Acoustic audio recordings are preferred; MIDI recordings are accepted only if absolutely necessary. Applicants may substitute video for the audio recordings. All applicants must submit at least one concert work for acoustic instruments, but those interested in composition for visual media may also submit music for visual media (in which case video submission is preferred over audio). For electronic music that does not have a notated score, applicants may upload a detailed explanation in place of the PDF score to correspond to the audio file. After your portfolio is reviewed, you will be notified if you have been selected for an on-campus interview and assessment exam. Scores: File type accepted: PDF Maximum file size: 100MB Composition Multimedia: Corresponding video and/or audio media recordings of your submitted compositions can be included in your application. There is no formal time or file size limit set for the media files. However, smaller file sizes (less than 720p) may yield faster and easier upload times from most home Internet connections, and will be of sufficient Audio: MP3, M4A, AIFF, WMA, WAV, AAC 4
Statement of Purpose Prompt: Prompt for MA and PhD applicants: Please state your purpose in applying for graduate study. Describe your scholarly and research area(s) of interest, experiences that contributed to your preparation in the field, and your plans for your future occupation or profession. Briefly describe experiences that have prepared you for advanced study or research, and provide any additional information that may aid the selection committee in evaluating your preparation and aptitude for graduate study at UCLA. If you are applying for a research masters or doctoral program, you are encouraged to indicate specific research interests and potential faculty mentors. 5