School of Music

Applied Music Examinations (Juries)

A. End of Semester Examinations

Every music major is required to complete a jury examination each semester in both principal and secondary instruments. (The jury requirement applies to secondary instruments only if the student is taking individual lessons. Students registered for class instruction should consult course syllabi for specific requirements about examinations and juries.) In most instances, students should prepare two contrasting selections for the jury examination. Students who are completing piano juries must perform both selections from memory. Voice students who are taking a one-hour lesson each week should prepare four songs chosen from their semester repertoire from memory. Those students taking a thirty-minute lesson each week will prepare three songs from memory. The student will choose the first selection to sing for the jury and the faculty will choose a second selection.

Jury examinations are usually scheduled during the last week of classes in each semester. In some instances, juries have occurred earlier in the semester in order to accommodate individual teachers’ performance obligations. No juries are to take place during exam week. Individual departments also have the option to schedule mid-semester juries as well. In all instances, juries are to be regarded as the equivalent of mid-semester and final examinations.

At the discretion of the applied teacher, CLA students in their first semester of study may be allowed not to take a jury.

Students who complete the sophomore performance examination or a junior or senior recital within one month of the end of classes are excused from the end-of-semester jury.

These two final paragraphs approved by the music faculty, May 2, 2002.

B. First-Year Review

At the end of the first year, each School of Music student identified as a probable performance major shall be evaluated by jury examination in such a way that the student’s ability to pursue the major can be clearly assessed. (This shall take place in the end-of-semester jury.) Each performance area shall determine the nature of this examination. With input from area faculty, the Dean will write an advisory letter to any students judged by the faculty to have potential problems in meeting graduation requirements for the performance major.

This policy approved by the music faculty, December 4, 2001, and updated by the music faculty, April 24, 2007.

C. Junior Recital Jury

The junior recital (consisting of a minimum of 25-30 minutes of music—typically junior recitals are shared by two students) can be presented publicly only after the program has been performed successfully before a faculty jury. The jury examination must be heard a minimum of two weeks before the scheduled public recital. Students must have prepared a formal program in which their musical selections are indicated. Repertoire selected should be representative of at least three historical/stylistic periods and, for voice majors, should encompass selections in French, German, Italian and English.

D. Senior Recital Jury

The senior recital (consisting of a minimum of 55-60 minutes of music) can be presented publicly only after the program has been performed successfully before a faculty jury. The jury examination must be heard a minimum of two weeks before the scheduled public recital. The successful completion of the senior recital jury and subsequent public performance will constitute the senior requirement for B.M. degree students (performance majors) and for those students in the B.M.A. and B.A. degree programs who have successfully petitioned to substitute a recital for their senior seminar requirement.

Repertoire selected for the senior recital is typically representative of several historical/stylistic periods and, for voice majors, should encompass selections in French, German, Italian and English. Voice majors are required, in addition, to provide synopses of the selections in languages other than English, which may take the place of translations.