Admission

General

Applications for admission should be submitted online to the School of Graduate Studies. The application form can be found on their web site at www.mun.ca/become/graduate/apply/. Information about the admission procedures for the School of Graduate Studies can be found in the University Calendar at www.mun.ca/regoff/calendar/sectionNo=GRAD-4515. Please consult this information for full details. Additional information for international students can be found at www.mun.ca/become/graduate/international/index.php.

Applicants for admission to the Master of Music program will normally hold a Bachelor of Music or equivalent from a recognized university or conservatory. Preference will be given to applicants who hold first class standing in their undergraduate program. Admission is further determined by audition and diagnostic examinations; see specific requirements below. Click here for audition locations and dates.

In addition to the audition, applicants to all M.Mus. programs will be required to write diagnostic examinations measuring their skills and knowledge in the standard areas of musical literacy. These include music theory and analysis, aural skills, and music history and literature. Applicants who display deficiencies in any of these areas may still be considered for admission. Once admitted, however, they will be required to take remedial course work in addition to the required program.

Voice and choral conducting applicants will also have language competency assessed. Students admitted in voice and in choral conducting who lack sufficient background in English, German, French and Italian diction and basic comprehension will be required to take remedial undergraduate course work.

Specific Requirements: Conducting

Applications must include a list of recent and relevant conducting experiences, as well as a video recording of high quality demonstrating the candidate’s skills in both rehearsal and performance. The recording should include music of different styles and style periods, and should be sent directly to the School of Music.

After the videos have been reviewed, selected candidates will be invited for a live audition where the applicant will rehearse with a university ensemble. Music for this rehearsal will be determined in consultation with the School of Music.

Specific Requirements: Performance & Performance/Pedagogy

A recorded audition may be submitted on DVD (preferred) or CD if an in-person audition is an impossibility. Recordings must be of professional calibre and should be sent directly to the School of Music.

The audition program should display a range of performance styles and repertoire. All candidates are encouraged to include some repertoire composed within the last fifty years. Chamber music may be included up to a maximum of either: 25% of the total audition time OR one work as part of a balanced and varied audition program. Applicants might not be asked to play the entire program, but must be prepared to do so.

All accompanied repertoire, including concertos, must be performed with an accompanist. On request, the School will provide contact information for professional accompanists who are available in St. John’s for the live auditions.

Specific audition requirements for each instrument are as follows:

Strings

A balanced program of approximately 50 minutes of music which must include, among other works, the following:

Violin:

Two contrasting movements from J. S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin
Two contrasting movements of a major Romantic concerto
One or more other contrasting selections of the applicant’s own choice

Viola:

Two contrasting movements from the Unaccompanied Suites for Cello by J. S. Bach
Two contrasting movements of a concerto from the standard repertoire
One or more other contrasting selections of the applicant’s own choice

Cello:

Two contrasting movements from the Unaccompanied Suites for Cello by J.S. Bach
Two contrasting movements of a major concerto for cello (e.g., Dvorak, Haydn, Lalo, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, etc.)
One or more other contrasting selections of the applicant’s own choice

Bass:

Two contrasting movements of an unaccompanied work for solo bass
Two contrasting movements of a major concerto
One or more other contrasting selections of the applicant’s own choice

Guitar:

Applicants should present a balanced recital program of approximately 50 minutes of music, including a wide range of styles and composers. Applicants are encouraged to include pieces which display technique, flexibility, and musicianship.

Piano and Organ:

A balanced program of not less than 30 minutes in length, including a variety of styles and composers.

Voice

A balanced program of not less than 30 minutes in length. The program must include at least one major aria from opera or oratorio (with recitative) and at least one work written since 1960 (preferably Canadian). Repertoire must display a mastery of contrasting styles and include works sung in each of the following languages: English, French, German, and Italian.

Winds

Flute

A program of approximately 50 minutes in length, including a wide range of styles and composers. Applicants are encouraged to include a work by Mozart or Bach, and a contemporary, non-tonal work.

Clarinet

A balanced program of approximately 50 minutes in length, including a wide range of styles and composers. Applicants are encouraged to include pieces which display technique, flexibility, and musicianship.

Saxophone

A balanced program of approximately 50 minutes in length, including a wide range of styles and composers. Applicants are encouraged to include pieces which display technique, flexibility, and musicianship.

Trumpet and Low Brass

A balanced program of approximately 50 minutes in length, including a wide range of styles and composers. Applicants are encouraged to include pieces which display technique, flexibility, and musicianship.

Music Theory and Aural Skills Diagnostic Exams

The purpose of the diagnostic exams is to determine your readiness for graduate study in music. For all performers, coaches, accompanists, teachers and conductors, the ability to comprehend and hear the written score and to process and organize what you hear is vital.

The music theory and aural skills exams are an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to:

Write in four-part chorale style using appropriate voice leading.
Realize figured bass.
Give a harmonic analysis of a short passage that incorporates chromatic harmonies and modulation.
Make a form analysis of a short tonal composition, including a brief discussion of significant relationships, compositional devices used, etc.
Sight sing melodies of moderate difficulty. Melodies will be tonal, including chromaticism and modulation. You may use any syllable system with which you are comfortable (or none at all).
Notate melodies and rhythms of moderate difficulty after hearing them played a limited number of times. Melodies will be tonal, and may include chromaticism and/or modulation.

The skill level of the examples on the exam are comparable to what would be expected at the end of a two- to three-year undergraduate basic theory and aural skills sequence.

The analysis exam will be 90 minutes in duration. You are encouraged to write with pencil (bring two or three – and an eraser). The dictation exam will take approximately one hour. Sight singing exams will be done individually, and will be scheduled throughout the day, accommodating your audition and written exam times.

Click below for a sample theory exam and practice dictation exercises:

We recommend preparing for this exam by reviewing any standard texts, such as:

Harmonic analysis:

Aldwell, Edward and Carl Schacter. Harmony and Voice Leading. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich
Benward, Bruce and Gary White. Music in Theory and Practice. Wm. C. Brown
Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony. McGraw Hill
Piston, Walter and Mark DeVoto. Harmony. Norton

Form and analysis:

Berry, Wallace. Form in Music. Prentice Hall
Green, Douglas. Form in Tonal Music
Spencer, Peter and Peter Temko. A Practical Approach to the Study of Form in Music. Waveland Press

Sight singing and aural skills:

Adler, Samuel. Sight Singing: Pitch, Interval, Rhythm. Norton
Benward, Bruce and J. Timothy Kolosick. Ear Training: A Technique for Listening. Wm C. Brown
Benward, Bruce and Maureen Carr. Sightsinging Complete. Wm. C. Brown
Kraft, Leo. A New Approach to Ear Training. Norton
Ottman, Robert W. Music for Sight Singing. Prentice Hall
Phillips, Joel et al. The Musicians’ Guide to Aural Skills. Norton
Stevenson, John R. and Marjorie Porterfield. Rhythm and Pitch. Prentice Hall

Music History and Literature Diagnostic Exam

The diagnostic exam in music history and literature will be 90 minutes in duration. The purpose of the diagnostic exams is to determine your readiness for graduate study in music. The music history and literature diagnostic exam offers you the opportunity to display:

the breadth of your general knowledge of music history,
the depth of your specific knowledge of the history and repertoire in your performance medium, and
your ability to write coherently and persuasively about music.

The level of information sought will be that which would be acquired in the course of an undergraduate two-year survey of music history and literature.

The School recommends preparing for this exam by reviewing any of several standard music history texts. The School of Music currently uses the following text in its undergraduate curriculum:

Burkholder, Peter J., Donald J. Grout and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. Norton

Language Competency Test

The language competency test is administered to applicants in choral conducting and voice (performance and performance/pedagogy). The purpose of the test is to determine your knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and principles of lyric diction in Italian, German, French and English. A basic level of comprehension (with the assistance of a dictionary) is also expected in Italian, German and French. Click here if you would like to see a sample test.