auditions

CONCERT STRINGS AUDITION MATERIALS

Students entering grades 6, 7, or 8 may audition for the Concert Strings.  

 

     1. Audition Registration Form/Code of Conduct Form (required) There are 3 sections on the form. Once completed, you will automatically be sent a copy of your form. If you don't receive that, it means you might not have made it all the way through the form or forgot to hit submit at the end.

     2. Pay $25 audition fee. Pay online here: https://www.fmays.org/shop (when you add the audition fee to the cart, please click on "add a note"and include the student's name) or mail/drop off check to FMAYS office 808 3rd Ave. S. Suite 302, Fargo, ND 58103

 

Audition requirements include the following:

• a prepared solo (1 minute in length). Any song out of a Suzuki book is acceptable for the prepared solo.

• scales

• excerpts

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• Audition Scales (scales do not need to be memorized)

 

Below are the excerpts used by each area in your audition. Please prepare the bracketed areas of the given excerpts

• Violin excerpt​ 

• Viola excerpt​

• Cello excerpt​ 

• Bass excerpt​ 

 

ATTACCA STRINGS AUDITION MATERIALS

Students entering grades 9-12 may audition for the Attacca Strings.

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     1. Audition Registration Form/Code of Conduct Form (required) There are 3 sections on the form. Once completed, you will automatically be sent a copy of your form. If you don't receive that, it means you might not have made it all the way through the form or forgot to hit submit at the end.

     2. Pay $25 audition fee. Pay online here: https://www.fmays.org/shop (when you add the audition fee to the cart, please click on "add a note"and include the student's name) or mail/drop off check to FMAYS office 808 3rd Ave. S. Suite 302, Fargo, ND 58103

​

Audition requirements include the following:

• a one minute prepared solo

• the appropriate scale for your instrument as listed below.

• instrument excerpt as listed below

     ​

• Solo Piece - Prepare a polished, recital-ready solo work, accompaniment not required.  You may be asked to stop playing before you reach the end of your prepared piece – this is not a reflection of your performance, just a matter of keeping the auditions on schedule. Strings---these guidelines must be met on your solo in order to make it into Attacca Strings. Solos should be Suzuki book 3-4 (or equivalent) for violin, viola, and cello. Bass solos should demonstrate shifting abilities up to 3rd or 4th position. Solos for all instruments should demonstrate some shifting abilities. 

• Audition Scales: (scales do not need to be memorized)

  • Violin 

  • Viola

  • Cello

  • Bass 

• ​​Below are the excerpts used by each area in your audition. Please prepare the bracketed areas of the given excerpts

  • Violin

  • Viola

  • Cello

  • Bass

 

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUDITION MATERIALS

String players entering grades 9-12 and wind/brass/percussionists entering grades 8-12 may audition for the Symphony Orchestra.

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     1. Audition Registration Form/Code of Conduct Form (required) There are 3 sections on the form. Once completed, you will automatically be sent a copy of your form. If you don't receive that, it means you might not have made it all the way through the form or forgot to hit submit at the end.

     2. Pay $25 audition fee. Pay online here: https://www.fmays.org/shop (when you add the audition fee to the cart, please click on "add a note"and include the student's name) or mail/drop off check to FMAYS office 808 3rd Ave. S. Suite 302, Fargo, ND 58103

​​​

The audition requirements include the following:

• scales

• solo piece

• excerpts

 

• Audition Scales: (scales do not need to be memorized)

  • Violin 

  • Viola

  • Cello

  • Bass

  • Flute

  • Oboe 

  • Clarinet

  • Bassoon 

  • Horn

  • Trumpet 

  • Trombone 

  • Bass Trombone/Tuba 

  • Percussion (Mallets) 

• Solo Piece - Prepare a polished, recital-ready solo work, accompaniment not required. You may be asked to stop playing before you reach the end of your prepared piece – this is not a reflection of your performance, just a matter of keeping the auditions on schedule.

  • Strings---these guidelines must be met on your solo in order to make it into Symphony Orchestra. Solos should be Suzuki book 5 (or equivalent) or higher for violin, viola, and cello. Bass solos should demonstrate shifting abilities above the octave harmonic. Solos should demonstrate a proficiency in vibrato and shifting. 

  • ​Percussion--your solo can be on one of the following instruments: snare drum, timpani, xylophone, or marimba​

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Below are the excerpts used by each area in your audition. Please prepare excerpts in their entirety, unless there is a bracketed section marked.

• Strings

  • Violin 

  • Viola 

  • Cello

  • Bass 

• Woodwinds

  • Flute (no piccolo excerpt) 

  • Oboe

  • Clarinet 

  • Bassoon 

• Brass

  • Horn 

  • Trumpet 

  • Trombone 

  • Bass trombone

  • Tuba 

• Percussion

  • audition excerpts will be on snare drum, xylophone, and timpani

  • Click here for easier to read version of the Shostakovich excerpt

• Harp

• Piano- in lieu of an excerpt, prepare 1-2 minutes of both a lyrical solo and technical solo 

  • for piano auditions, we do not require specific pieces, but here are some suggestions: ​

    • tehnical pieces: Bach Inventions or a Beethoven sonata movement​

    • lyrical pieces: Chopin nocturnes or a Schumann piece