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Piano
Application & Audition Requirements
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About this Program
Overview
The Juilliard Pre-College is a program for students of elementary through high school age who exhibit the talent, potential, and accomplishment to pursue a career in music. It runs on Saturdays from September through May.
Pre-College offers a complete curriculum of music instruction that requires a considerable amount of time and commitment on the part of the students. Recognizing the importance of early development and discipline in the music field, the School provides an atmosphere where artistic gifts and technical skills can flourish. For more information about Pre-College, including details on tuition, financial aid, faculty, curriculum and the academic calendar, please click here.
Special Announcements
COVID-19 Information (effective October 24, 2022)
Effective Monday, October 24, 2022, unless otherwise directed, masks are strongly encouraged but not required within the Juilliard Diamond Building. This change applies to campus visitors, including prospective students coming for consultation lessons, and prospective students and families taking campus tours.
While Juilliard continues to strongly urge full COVID-19 vaccination and boosters, we are no longer checking vaccine status for visitors or audience members.
NOTE: If you have been exposed to COVID-19 in the past 10 days, a face covering is required at all times. If you feel sick or have been ordered by a public health authority to quarantine or isolate, please do not enter any Juilliard facility until medically cleared. We also ask that you refrain from visiting campus if you, or anyone in your household, has had a fever, flu-like symptoms, or any COVID-19 symptoms within the previous 14 days.
For information on proper mask usage, please refer to CDC guidelines.
These policies and guidelines will continue to evolve and are subject to change. Bookmark this page for the latest guidelines.
Eligibility
There are no minimum age requirements (except for voice), but all applicants must demonstrate a high level of proficiency in their proposed majors to warrant consideration for an audition.
Criteria for Acceptance
Acceptance to the Pre-College is based on the results of a competitive audition process, which all applicants undergo in their major area of study. The division does not accept applications from beginners.
Faculty
Application Timeline
Application Timeline
| APPLICATION REQUIREMENT | DEADLINE |
| Application due date with pre-screen video and fee | January 10 |
| Screening results announced | January 27 at 6pm |
| Individual schedule for in-person audition round posted | February 2 at 6pm |
| In-Person Audition | February 29 |
| Duolingo English Test for International applicants due | March 1 |
| Financial aid application due | March 1 |
| Audition Results announced | April 1 |
Application Fee & Waivers
Application Fee
The $75 application fee is nonrefundable and must be paid through your application status page upon submission of your application. Your application is not considered complete until the fee has been received. Fee waiver requests will be evaluated after you have submitted a complete application. If you are requesting a fee waiver, please submit your application (including fee waiver documentation) but do not pay the application fee.
Your Application Materials
Your Online Application
The Pre-College Application is available online starting on October 15. Contact [email protected] if you have questions regarding your Pre-College Application.
Scholarship & Financial Aid Forms
Application for financial aid is part of the Pre-College Application for Admission and must be submitted once a prompt is received from the Pre-College Admissions Office, and before March 1. Consideration for financial aid may not be possible for late applicants.
Your Teacher Preferences
A key element of your study at Juilliard is your major teacher assignment. Music students receive 15 one-hour lessons per semester with a Juilliard Pre-College studio faculty member.
How to Indicate Your Preferences
- You are required to submit your teacher preferences through the online application
- If your preferences change, you can update your selections through your application status page
How Your Preferences are Used
- Your teacher preferences are confidential and do not affect admissions decisions. Studio faculty are not advised of teacher preference selections until after admission decisions are finalized by the committee
- Your audition will be scheduled based on the availability of your first choice teacher (if attending), followed by your remaining preferences. It may not be possible for all of your preferred teachers to hear your audition
- Due to the complexities of audition scheduling, a confirmed date and time cannot be changed even if your teacher preferences change
- We aim to confirm studio assignments with notification of admission
- If admitted, your teacher assignment will be based on your preferences to the greatest extent possible. No teacher assignment can be made without a documented request for a specific teacher
Researching Teachers
If you are not familiar with our faculty, we strongly recommend researching the teachers in your major prior to the application deadline, as follows:
- Review the teachers’ online bios in our directory and listen to recordings of each artist
- Ask your current teacher(s) for recommendations
- Consult with friends who may have studied with them
- Optional: Set up a meeting or lesson with the teacher(s). Although not all faculty are available to meet with applicants due to their teaching and performing commitments, you may contact them through their Juilliard email, found in our online directory. Scheduling the meeting and payment of any lesson or meeting fee is your responsibility
Prescreening
Prescreening Repertoire
Your major is required to submit pre-screening materials within the online application by the appropriate deadline.
To qualify for an audition, applicants must submit the following:
- Pre-College Application for Admission
- a current resume
- a pre-screening video recording containing repertoire requirements Nos. 2 and 3 (see Auditioning for Juilliard section); these do not need to be the same as the works played at the audition, as long as they conform to the requirements. Recordings must be submitted by the application due date: January 10.
Applicants who pass the pre-screening round will be invited to a live in-person audition.
All auditions must be performed from memory.
Prescreening Requirements
Procedures
- Individual movements or excerpts should be uploaded as separate digital files
- Upload and arrange your recordings so that the file that represents your best work is first
- Clearly label each of the uploaded files with the name of the composer and work/movement
- Complete your uploads well in advance of the appropriate deadline, as upload times vary depending on file size and internet signal strength
- Insufficient or incomplete audition repertoire may affect consideration for admission
- Where specific works are required, substitutions are not allowed
- Please note that audition requirements which state a complete piece or work are indicating all movements must be prepared
Quality
Please note that submitted prescreening recordings do not need to be filmed in a particular setting. Videos filmed in a practice room, a living room, a concert hall, a recording studio, or any other setting may be submitted.
The camera should be positioned in a way that allows faculty to fully view you and your instrument.
- Recordings must be genuinely performed by you
- Recordings must not be edited, nor should any effects such as “reverb” be added
- Play back and check your entire recording for any distortion or excessive “buzz”
- If accompaniment is required, ensure that it does not drown out your playing
- Review your recordings before uploading to ensure that they are of good quality and represent your best work to date
You will be notified as to whether or not you have passed the prescreening round by the date on the application timeline. Please note that prescreening materials become the property of The Juilliard School and will not be returned. We encourage you to keep copies for your records.
Prescreening Type
Format
You are required to upload your files in a Video format. Acceptable file types include:
- .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
PLEASE NOTE: Some .mov files use a codec which is not supported by the application. We recommend that .mov files be converted to another accepted format to avoid uploading difficulties.
We support media files as large as 5GB, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time.
Additional Requirements
Out of Town Students
Application
Out-of-town students must come to The Juilliard School in New York City to take a live in-person entrance audition. Cello, viola, violin, and piano applicants are required to submit pre-screening audio-video recordings with the Application for Admission. Composition majors must submit scores with their application. All other majors are not required to submit pre-screening recordings.
Accepted Students
Out-of-town students who relocate to the New York City area must live with a parent or guardian. Pre-College does not provide academic instruction on the elementary, middle, or high school levels. Students are required to enroll in a full-time academic school. Students must provide the name and address of the school they plan to attend.
International Students
Application
International students must come to The Juilliard School in New York City to take a live entrance audition. Cello, violin, viola, and piano applicants are required to submit pre-screening audio-video recordings with the online application. Composition majors are required to submit scores for pre-screening. Pre-screening is not required for all other majors.
International applicants requiring a B-2 visitor's visa to enter the United States for the audition may obtain a letter of invitation from the Pre-College Administration.
Accepted Students
International students must have an I-20 student visa form to stay in the United States and are responsible for obtaining this form from a private academic school before the Pre-College begins in September. The I-20 form is a Certificate of Eligibility for Non-Immigrant (F-1) Student Status.
Students cannot register for the Pre-College without proof of an I-20 visa form or another legal visa status. If students are here under another status, they must check with the Pre-College Administration to make sure the visa is legal.
International students who relocate to the New York City area must live with a parent or guardian.
Pre-College does not provide academic instruction on the elementary, middle, or high school levels. Students are required to enroll in a full-time academic school. Students must provide the name and address of the school they plan to attend.
English Language Proficiency
All non-U.S. citizens for whom English is a second language must take a Duolingo English test as part of their Pre-College application. There is an additional cost of $49 associated with the test. We recommend that students take multiple free practice tests with Duolingo before taking the actual test. Test can be taken several times and the test results are due by March 1 for pianists, by May 1 for other majors. Students are encouraged to utilize the free Duolingo website and App to improve their English skills in preparation to their studies in the USA.
Non-U.S. citizens who have studied in the United States for one year or more, may present their academic school transcript or report card and a letter from their ESL teacher or school official as proof of English proficiency.
Students accepted into the division who fail the English Test with Duolingo, would be asked to improve their English and take the test again before the start of the school year in September.
Auditioning for Juilliard
Audition Repertoire Guidelines and Resources
As part of the online application, you are required to submit your proposed audition repertoire for review and approval. Scroll down to the In-Person Audition Repertoire section to find audition requirements for your major.
The Juilliard School is working with students, faculty, and guest artists to embrace and build a more representative world of classical music. When you have an elective choice, we encourage you to include a work in your audition repertoire by a composer from historically underrepresented gender, racial, ethnic, and cultural heritages. We are happy to recommend the following resources that expand our knowledge of a wider breadth of repertoire:
Should you need to update your repertoire after you submit your online application, you can do so by submitting a form on your application status page.
- Insufficient or incomplete audition repertoire may affect consideration for admission
- Where specific works are required, substitutions are not allowed
- Audition requirements which state a complete piece or work are indicating all movements must be prepared
You should first consult with your private teacher to determine the suitability of your proposed repertoire. If there is any concern regarding the appropriateness of a particular piece, submit your questions through this form.
Audition Repertoire
All pieces must be performed from memory. Exceptions may be permitted only in the case of some 20th and 21st-century pieces. Permission must be granted by the Juilliard piano faculty upon request. Concerti may not be performed as part of a piano audition.
Students through age 11:
- A two-part invention by Bach (excluding Nos. 1 and 8) or one of the Little Preludes.
- A complete sonata by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven.
- A work by a 19th-century composer.
Students ages 12 through 15:
- A work by Bach, excluding the two-part inventions.
- A complete sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert or Beethoven (excluding Op. 49).
- A Romantic work by Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, or Liszt.
- A work by a 20th or 21st-century composer.
Students age 16 and older:
- A complete work by Bach, excluding all inventions.
- A complete sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert or Beethoven (excluding Op. 49 and Op. 79).
- A substantial Romantic work by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, or Liszt.
- A work by a 20th or a 21st-century composer.
Decisions & Enrolling
Decisions
Admission decisions for Piano are announced in April.
Please note that all communication related to the admissions process is conducted through the online application account, including the decision letter. It is vital for applicants to save their user name and password information.