Music Composition Auditions and What to Expect

Learn the craft of composition.

Here’s a bit about my journey:

Age 7: Inspired by a book about Mozart, I knew I wanted to become a composer.
Age 15: Joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program, mentored by Steven Stucky.
Age 22: Earned my B.M. in Composition from USC, studying under Donald Crockett, Stephen Hartke, Frank Ticheli, and Bruce Broughton.
Age 24: Completed my M.M. at Juilliard under John Corigliano.
Age 29: Named Composer-in-Residence at the California Symphony.
Age 30: Graduated with a D.M.A. from Columbia University and joined their faculty.
Age 31: Premiered “Aysheen” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Today, I have a growing catalog of over 50 compositions that have been performed in China, Brazil, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, South Korea, Austria, Sweden, Canada, and the United States. These works include pieces for orchestra, chamber ensemble, vocalists, soloists, and electronics.

It took me 25 years to get to where I am today. Loving music is not enough. It takes doing the work that no one sees in the hopes of attaining an outcome that is not guaranteed.

If you love to compose as much as I do, then you’ll never stop doing it.

Timestamps:

00:00 What goes into the audition?
00:57 Do your homework
01:17 Bring professional material
03:14 Body language
03:48 Mind what you say
04:54 Be prepared for certain questions
06:40 Prepare questions
07:42 What to wear
08:22 Bonus tip

[saadhaddadmusic]

So you’ve passed the pre-screening progress for your composition audition. Now what? Here’s how to prepare for your audition and what to expect.

[ErickAleixoMusic]

Auditioned last week. Your videos were a tremendous help!

[Jwellsuhhuh]

thanks youtube for recommending me this 4 months after ive submitted my undergrad portfolios and received all my decisions already

[apolace]

I have masters auditions coming up for Rice, Juilliard, CCM (where I did undergrad), Peabody, and Curtis (they still haven’t announced prescreening results though so maybe not them). All of your videos on portfolio and auditions are extremely useful and I’m glad you’re doing them! My biggest struggle is ear training stuff. Due to genetics and ear damage sustained by working with cargo planes, in a car factory, and warehouses (through my undergrad), I have a very hard time matching pitch and hearing individual pitches in a chord. what’s the best way to work on that? You should make a video on ear training!

[jeffreyhartmusic]

Excellent video, Saad! Thanks for the tips!

[muse]

Thank you for uploading this video! I felt like this video is made for me😲😃 This video is really for me. It'll be so helpful for my audition, I'll keep that in mind.
Thank you so much~! ^ㅡ^

[Labratas]

Thanks for your help, I have already got an offer from a good university 😢

[furhound]

Thank you for this video! I was not able to find this quality content anywhere else. By the way, I have already passed my prescreening for Juilliard precollege. Just wondering, do you have any recommendations for who I should study with there? I mainly compose music for orchestra but I tried looking through all the faculty's works and I'm still unsure which composer I should study with 😂. With that said, your video was really helpful and I will definitely keep your tips in mind for my audition coming up soon🙏

[malcolmjenkins]

Through what method would you recommend that I bind my pieces?