The Juilliard School (US). Piano and voice applicants send prescreening recordings. Music auditions are then held in person in New York.
Audition patterns
Schools That Ask for a Prescreening Video
At these schools a recording comes first. This recording is called a prescreen. Faculty members watch it and choose who comes to a live audition. Prepare and record it with the same care as a live audition.
Practice for this pattern is at the end of the page.
Schools that follow this pattern
Curtis Institute of Music (US). Most departments ask for a prescreening video before the live round. Composition applicants send original works. Each department sets its own rules, so read the page for your instrument.
New England Conservatory (US). All programs require a prescreening video or a portfolio. Applicants who pass the prescreen then audition live. In some cases they send a final recording.
Manhattan School of Music (US). Applicants for a first degree can audition online. They still send a prescreen first.
Colburn Conservatory of Music (US). A prescreening video is required. Live auditions on campus follow by invitation.
Eastman School of Music (US). Violin and voice applicants upload a prescreen video. Voice applicants sing pieces in several languages and give a spoken introduction.
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (US). Prescreening applies in many areas, including piano, voice, most strings and composition.
Royal College of Music (London, UK). Applicants who choose an overseas audition venue send a prescreening video. Only applicants who pass it audition there.
Royal Northern College of Music (UK). Applicants submit an audition recording with the application. Overseas applicants are shortlisted from it.
Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Netherlands). Bachelor applicants begin with a video pre-selection. A live audition and a theory exam follow.
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore). Applicants record their full audition repertoire on video. Shortlisted finalists then spend a day at the school for classes and tests.
Australian National Academy of Music (Australia). The first round is a recorded submission. Selected applicants send more recordings and then audition live by video call.
Berklee College of Music follows a different pattern. Berklee asks for no prescreen video. Applicants give a live audition, in person or by video call, and have an interview. See its audition page.
What to include in a prescreen recording
- The exact repertoire the school lists for your instrument. Record it in the order the school asks.
- Clear sound and a steady camera that shows your hands or your face as the school requests.
- A spoken introduction where the school asks for one. Eastman voice applicants give one.
- A single complete performance of each piece. Read each school's rules on editing before you record.
Practice for this pattern
- Measure Your Playing shows the pitch and timing of your recording before you send it.
- The audition preparation handbook has a chapter on making a prescreen recording.
The Music Stem is independent. No school listed here endorses or reviews our practice. Our full pathways cover the schools linked under Practice. The other schools are listed to show the pattern. Requirements change. Read each school's own page before you record.