Royal Northern College of Music

ENTRY AUDITIONS

The auditions will normally take place either at the end of November or the beginning of December. The pieces specified for the auditions to be held in Nov/Dec 2008, for entry to the RNCM in September 2009, are listed below. (Please note that these audition requirements may change slightly from year to year.)

UNDERGRADUATE AUDITIONS
for both the BMus & BA COURSES

TUNED
Own choice piece, at least Grade 8 level. 

TIMPANI
Choose and prepare one of the following pieces from the Associated Board Grade 8 list :-

MODERN TIMES
TCHAIKOVSKY PLUS
WALTZ VARIATIONS

SNARE DRUM
Choose and prepare one of the following pieces from the Associated Board Grade 8 list :-

SICILIENNE
SCHEHERAZADIA

SIGHT READING
Sight reading may be given on any instrument

POSTGRADUATE AUDITION REQUIREMENTS

Candidates will be asked to play one piece of their own choice on each of the following instruments:-

TUNED PERCUSSION
TIMPANI
SNARE DRUM        

The level of difficulty should be comparable to that of the pieces played in the candidate's undergraduate diploma/degree recital.

ORCHESTRAL REPERTOIRE The following repertoire excerpts should also be prepared for the audition:-

TUNED
Dukas : Sorcerer's Apprentice
Gershwin : Porgy & Bess
Kabalevsky : Colas Breugnon

SNARE DRUM
Prokofiev : Lieutenant Kijé
Rimsky-Korsakov : Scheherazade
Suppé : Pique Dame

TIMPANI
Beethoven Symphonies No. 7 (1st and 4th mvts.) and 9 (1st and 2nd mvts.)
Stravinsky : Rite of Spring (Danse Sacrale)

INSTRUMENTS  The following instruments will normally be provided for both undergraduate and postgraduate auditions:-

TIMPANI   Four Adams Symphonic Timpani (32", 29", 26", 23") with Renaissance heads. These drums have Premier-type pedals and the tuning gauges on the drums will be disabled for the audition. Candidates may tune from a tuning fork or take an A from the marimba.

SNARE DRUM   A snare drum will be provided, but candidates may bring their own drum if they wish.

TUNED   The instruments normally available will be a 4.3 octave Concorde marimba (fixed height), a 5-octave Yamaha marimba and a 4-octave Adams xylophone (adjustable height). A piano will not be available for accompaniment. A Yamaha vibraphone will be an option for postgraduate auditions.

Full information about all these courses and about the College itself can be found in the prospectus.
If you would like a copy, please contact:-
Admissions Secretary, Royal Northern College of Music
124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD, UK
0161 907 5200
admissions@rncm.ac.uk