How to prepare for a conservatory prescreen audition
Nearly every top conservatory requires a recorded video prescreen as the first round of a string audition, most commonly due around December 1. Pass it and you are invited to the live audition; the prescreen is the gate.
What they evaluate
Usually a concerto movement plus one or two movements of unaccompanied Bach, often with an etude or caprice, performed from memory. The bar is high and specific: panels expect polish, control, and a clear musical voice.
The prep, step by step
- 1Pick your repertoire against each school's exact list early in the year. Many schools allow no substitutions for specified works.
- 2Memorize early so the last months are about refinement and consistency, not still learning notes.
- 3Record full run-throughs from memory weekly under performance conditions, and treat each like a real submission.
- 4Score the takes on tone, intonation, rhythm, tempo, and musicality, and fix the weakest dimension before the next recording.
- 5Lock your final prescreen recording two to three weeks before the deadline so you are not gambling on one nervous late take.
Common mistakes that cost the seat
- Choosing repertoire that shows off rather than repertoire you can play cleanly and consistently under pressure.
- Leaving memory work late, so the prescreen take is the first time the piece holds together start to finish.
- Submitting a single take instead of the best of several honest run-throughs.
Frequently asked
What does a conservatory prescreen audition evaluate?
Usually a concerto movement plus one or two movements of unaccompanied Bach, often with an etude or caprice, performed from memory. The bar is high and specific: panels expect polish, control, and a clear musical voice.
Is a conservatory prescreen audition recorded or live?
Most conservatory prescreen auditions are a recorded or video submission, often a single continuous take. That is good news: you can rehearse the exact thing you submit and re-record until it is your best honest take.
How do I practice for a conservatory prescreen audition?
Build the material slowly and clean, then record full run-throughs and score them on tone, intonation, rhythm, tempo, and musicality, the way a panel listens. Fix the weakest dimension before the next take. Your first scored take on Orchestra Kingdom is free, no signup.
Know you are ready before you walk in.
Record your prep. The panel returns an Advance, Callback, or Not Yet verdict plus five-dimension scores. First take is free, no signup.
Face the panel