Hey guys. I have an audition coming up for a music school. Here are the requirements.

J. S. Bach Prelude and Fugue or Suite
One movement of a Classical Sonata
Romantic Piece
Impressionist, 20th Century, or Contemporary piece

I'm going to be playing
-Chopin Mazurka in C Minor Op. 30, No.1
-Gershwin Prelude 1
-Mozart Turkish March

My question is, do you think these pieces are good for the audition? And what would you play for an audition?

For a prelude and fugue by Bach you will want to check out the Well Tempered Clavier books. Maybe even a Partita movement if you're up for it. I did the Partita VI;toccata movement.

A classical sonata movement, check out the Beethoven sonatas(although a lot of them are tricky and from you're repertoire, you might not be ready, but no hard feelings because I didn't use a Beethoven sonata :D) Haydn has a few good sonatas and a lot of them would make you shine a little more than others. Mozart is a good alternative as well. I did Sonata in e minor HOB: 34;1st movement by: Haydn-which was NOT that bad at all.

For romantic, the mazurka is a good choice, maybe try a different piece to show off what you can do. I did a Liszt Paganini etude, which was hard to learn, but so much fun to play. Maybe check out Brahms, Chopin(nocturnes, maybe even etudes if you have the time),Liszt, Schuman, Schubert.

Impressionistic/ 20th cent/ Contemporary. The Gershwin’s good, but again, would you have the time to have something that shows off your ability more? I would check out Barber, Debussy, other Gershwin works,Scriabin, MAYBE Rachmaninoff, Hauss, Faure, Grandos, Einem, Satie maybe. Pick out a short and fun piece to finish off your audition. I did Samuel Barber’s Excursion No. 1. SO FUN TO PLAY. If you get the chance to play Barber, try the Excursions. When I was at Interlochen this summer a guy in my studio class played Gershwin’s “But Not for Me”.

You repertoire is OKAY to be totally honest. I finished my college auditions and took billions on trial lessons and the teachers are not really looking for extremely hard pieces(although my repertoire was pretty ridiculous.. ) but they want to see your ability and if you can shine. That’s the reason my teacher chose the pieces he did for me. So run these pieces by your teacher and don’t underestimate their choices because they are most likely right(like parents.. ).

Well I hope I helped. Looks like you got a lot of your hands. GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY PRACTICING!

There is a gulf between a major music conservatory audition and a tryout to study piano for a BA in music education. Granted, what you do for the former would work well for the latter, but it doesn't work the other way around. What are your goals here?

The Gershwin prelude is all of a minute and a half. Do you have all three preludes ready? If so, that's one piece (at roughly 6.5 minutes). You won't get to play it through from start to finish, so the examiner will get to pick and choose what you play and where you stop.

The Chopin is equally brief, and not particularly good for demonstrating advanced technique. This is less of a problem if you demonstrate that technique in other works, but your list does not at present have a truly challenging chunk for the examiners to chew on.

The Mozart movement is one that many students avoid unless there aren't any other alternatives in your repertoire. It'll work, of course, but it's in the overplayed to banality niche. Do you have a Beethoven or Haydn sonata under your belt?

And lastly, you will need to pick up the WTC and work up a prelude/fugue.

Welcome to the Forums, Cyber.

You are getting some learned opinions here, but what exactly does your piano teacher have to say about the pieces you suggest, and about your ability to prepare them?

Your teacher is going to give you much more accurate, personal advice than all of us put together.

Ed