All steps are required.
1. Complete the appropriate application:
2. Schedule your audition or portfolio review:
Schedule your audition or portfolio review date on the Admissions Visit & Events page.
Auditions, portfolio reviews, and interviews are held from fall to spring. Most of these will be in person for the 2023-24 application process, with a virtual option if you cannot make it to one of our in-person dates. All audition and portfolio review dates will close two weeks prior, so please register early.
If you are looking for a virtual option, please email Amanda Brady at abrady8@naz.edu to coordinate one.
For what to expect on your audition/review day in 2023-24, please refer to the appropriate section below.
3. Before your audition/review/interview, take these steps to prepare.
Music | Theatre | Dance | Art & Design
For musical theatre, see the THEATRE audition information below.
For music majors: All students are considered for scholarship opportunities. If awarded, the scholarship will be included in your financial aid award letter.
For non-music majors: You are welcome and encouraged to audition for a non-music-major ensemble scholarship to perform in a Nazareth University choir, band, orchestra, or jazz ensemble. You do not have to receive a scholarship to perform in any Nazareth University music ensemble. At this time we cannot offer this scholarship to those who play the flute or are a vocalist within alto soprano ranges.
Jazz musicians: The Paul and Beverly Smoker Jazz scholarship is awarded annually to an entering first-year music major who minors in jazz. To apply for the jazz scholarship, send a video audition with at least two examples — either solo performances with jazz groups and/or a solo jazz work that represents improvisation and playing over appropriate chord changes.
SCHEDULE
Prior to your audition
As you register for your audition date you will be asked for:
What to expect at your audition
We are excited to welcome students and their families to campus for auditions! We will hand out schedules to students the day of your audition. On your audition day, you can expect the following on your schedule:
In addition to these pieces of your audition, we will have opportunities to meet with current students and faculty from the School of Music. We encourage you to interact and ask them questions while on campus!
If you would like a full campus tour and information session, please follow www.naz.edu/visit to schedule this component of your visit.
*Assessments are used to register you for the appropriate course sections once a Nazareth student
Program specific
Auditioning virtually?
The School of Music will coordinate with you a recorded audition and Zoom interview. You will submit your recordings through your Admissions dashboard using YouTube. Additionally, we will send out virtual options for any assessments that would be given in person.
Please email Amanda Brady at abrady8@naz.edu if you’d like to pursue this option.
All music/business applicants interview with music/business faculty as part of your audition and you will take placement examinations in theory, aural skills, and piano.
You may choose the regular music-major audition format (see "Prepare for Music-Major Audition" on this page) OR if you have experience and interest in contemporary styles such as jazz, pop, rock, or musical theater, you may elect to present an audition with the following repertoire:
Voice
1. Sing two songs of contrasting nature:
2. Sight-reading
Guitar
1. Perform two pieces of a contrasting nature:
2. Sight-reading
Electric Guitar
Bass
Electric Bass
Percussion
Perform either jazz/rock/popular or classical:
1. Jazz/Rock/Popular - drum set or vibraphone
A. Drum Set
B. Vibraphone
2. Classical/Traditional - snare drum, mallet percussion, or timpani
Keyboard (piano)
Other Traditional Band and/or Orchestral Instruments
For all other instruments (e.g., violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, oboe, sax, etc.), you will follow the same audition procedures as for other Bachelor of Music degrees (see "Prepare for Music-Major Audition" on this page), with one exception: For the second selection, you have the option of performing a piece in a jazz, pop or rock genre. The piece may be an original composition.
Music therapy majors auditioning on piano, voice, guitar, or percussion have the option to include different audition content, as noted in the “Prepare for a Music Major Audition” instructions.
All music therapy major auditions will include a brief singing/aural skills assessment with music therapy faculty. This will occur “in the moment”, so there is nothing that you need to prepare.
Your audition on a performance instrument will be followed by a composition interview. If available, please bring scores and/or recordings of your best work. Online links to recordings and videos are acceptable.
For questions concerning repertoire selection or piano audition requirements, contact Dr. Jacob Ertl, jertl2@naz.edu.
The entrance audition demonstrates your ability to sing in tune with good quality, correct rhythm, and musical intelligence.
Violinists, violists, cellists:
Double bassists:
Harpists:
Sample literature includes:
Instrumentalists
Prepare
Vocalists
Prepare two pieces from the classical repertoire.
Prescreen and audition required:
Essay and interview required:
Portfolio review and interview required:
An exceptional audition or portfolio submission may qualify you for a theatre scholarship. If you are selected, the scholarship appears on your financial aid award letter.
Nazareth University follows the Musical Theatre Common Prescreen (MTCP). For the 2023/24 Audition Cycle, MTCP has included a list of helpful hints. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of these resources, which have been thoughtfully and intentionally crafted by the expertise of multiple programs nationwide to support the excellence of the audition and for your benefit. View the MTCP Audition Resources & Tips for Applicants (below the participating institutions and requirements).
OVERALL
Each piece should be filmed/uploaded as a separate piece of media. No continuous videos. Students are encouraged to use standard technology/recording devices that are available to them (i.e. smartphones, tablets, etc.) All prescreen videos should be uploaded to Nazareth’s Acceptd account: https://nazarethuniversity.getacceptd.com
SLATE
SONGS
Students should prepare 2 contrasting pieces:
MONOLOGUES
DANCE
Once these pieces are submitted, you will be invited to sign up for an audition through your Acceptd account.
See tips: Prepare for your musical theatre audition »
Audition in three performance areas: vocal, dance, and acting components. Before your scheduled audition day, please submit these three portions to Acceptd following the prescreen requirements above.
On your audition day, please bring with you a headshot and resume. We recommend that the following pieces defer from your pre-screen material.
For your scheduled audition date, you will receive confirmation emails prior but will not receive the full schedule until you arrive on your audition day. Each audition starts with the dance portion, so you're free to come dressed appropriately. Auditions also will include a brief interview with our faculty.
Interview expectations
Guidelines for resume
Guidelines for technical portfolio
Costume design
Lighting design
Scenic design
The BFA in Theatre Design and Technology will also prepare students for careers in the following areas:
Sound design
Stage management
Technical director
Please submit your supplemental material at least one week before your scheduled audition/review day.
Students interviewing for admission or a scholarship should present a resume and headshot. In addition to the headshot and theatrical resume, Theatre Arts students are asked to write an essay to demonstrate your theatre arts knowledge.
Essay guidelines
Your essay should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, in 12 pt. font. Include your name, date, and title on the first page (no cover page) in the upper left corner.
As the subject of your essay, select an artist of the theater (actor, designer, playwright, etc.) about whose work you are passionate. The essay should include an introduction, at least three paragraphs in the body, and a closing that assesses the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen artist. Questions to consider might include:
What about their work affects you?
What makes their work rise to the level of “art?”
What does their art say about the world in which it was created?
There will be an opportunity at the end of the interview session to ask questions. If you have any questions about the essay, please email Matt Ames, mames7@naz.edu.
For your scheduled review date, you will complete an interview and talk about your completed essay. Please submit your supplemental material at least one week before your scheduled audition/review day.
If you audition and are not admitted to your first-choice program in Musical Theatre, you may not audition again later for the same program.
All applicants for the dance studies major must audition.
Applicants who want to pursue a dance minor are encouraged to audition to be considered for a performing arts scholarship.
Nazareth University's Theatre and Dance Department faculty evaluate auditions. Their conclusions are used by the admissions office to make a final admissions decision.
Dance majors and dance minors: Nazareth offers performing arts scholarships based on the quality of your dance audition.
Tips from Prof. Heather Roffe: Ace Your Dance Audition »
Master Class
Come to your audition prepared to take a master class taught by Nazareth dance faculty (ballet barre and center, across-the-floor modern combination), dressed in appropriate body-conforming dance wear. Please bring ballet shoes and wear leggings or convertible tights for going bare-foot during Modern.
Solo
After the group class, you will perform a prepared two-minute solo in the style of your choice. Please bring any appropriate dance shoes, your music (on your phone app is perfect; we have an adapter for the sound system), and a water bottle in addition to the attire above.
2023-24: First-year students applying to the Art & Design Department do not require a portfolio review for admission, just for a scholarship. Transfer students require a portfolio review for:
There is no portfolio requirement for the Art History major.
Each portfolio submitted for review, as part of the Admissions process, is evaluated for its quality to determine admission into a program and for possible additional scholarships.
A strong portfolio includes 7-10 pieces, at least some based on direct observation from life (as opposed to photographs). We recommend portraits and self-portraits, drawings of hands and feet, landscapes, perspective drawings and a well-composed still-life. Do NOT include pieces that are copied from published photographs, advertisements, logos, copyrighted characters, etc.
In addition a strong portfolio should demonstrate your artistic spirit and personal creative direction within your area of interest.
The portfolio is evaluated based on the following criteria:
The pieces chosen for your portfolio should include:
Basic drawing from life
Pencil, charcoal, graphite, pen & ink
Three-dimensional works
Thematic projects
Consider the following thematic projects done in drawing and painting, printmaking, and or digital imaging:
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