USC Thornton School of Music (US). Applicants send scores and recordings of three contrasting pieces. There is no audition.
Audition patterns
Composition Portfolio Routes
Composition applicants usually send a portfolio of scores with recordings. Faculty members, the school's teachers, read it and interview the strongest applicants. Some schools also ask for an audition on your instrument or a theory test.
Practice for this pattern is at the end of the page.
Schools that follow this pattern
New England Conservatory (US). The portfolio holds three scores and a short video about you as a composer. Recordings are added where available. The school decides from the portfolio alone.
Oberlin Conservatory (US). Applicants send three original scores. Applicants who pass the screening then have an interview with the faculty. There is no instrumental audition.
The Juilliard School (US). The prescreen is the first round, which decides who goes further. It holds up to three contrasting scores with audio and a short statement. Applicants who pass the prescreen then have interviews with the faculty. They also take online musicianship tests.
Eastman School of Music (US). Applicants send scores with recordings. Selected applicants have an interview and also audition on their instrument.
Royal College of Music (London, UK). The portfolio holds three to five contrasting works. Shortlisted applicants have an interview that includes simple aural tests.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama (UK). Applicants upload three contrasting compositions. Applicants for the BMus (Bachelor of Music) also write a paper in harmony and counterpoint at home.
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (UK). The portfolio holds two to four works with recordings. A live interview follows. It covers your portfolio, your listening and your goals.
McGill Schulich School of Music (Canada). Applicants send two or three original scores and a short statement. They also audition on their main instrument.
Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia). The portfolio holds three original works of different kinds. At least two must be written in notation, and at least two must have recordings. An interview by video call follows.
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Applicants send three original scores with recordings. Shortlisted applicants discuss their works in an interview. The school does not consider popular genres.
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin (Germany). Applicants send several original scores. The exam adds ear training, piano and a written test in harmony and analysis.
A different model in East Asia. The Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and Tokyo University of the Arts examine composition through timed written tasks at the school. Applicants there send no portfolio. See the Central Conservatory audition and Tokyo University of the Arts entrance pathways.
What to include in a portfolio
- Contrasting works that differ in instruments, forms and character.
- Clean scores that a performer could read without questions.
- The best recordings you can get. Some schools accept computer playback when a live recording does not exist. Sydney Conservatorium is one example.
- Short notes on each piece that you can explain aloud. Panels often ask how you wrote it and what you would change.
Practice for this pattern
- Melodic dictation and ear tests prepare you for the aural parts of an interview.
- Interview questions help you talk about your own pieces.
The Music Stem is independent. No school listed here endorses or reviews our practice. We have no full composition pathway for any school listed above. The schools are listed to show the pattern. Requirements change. Read each school's own page before you apply.