TMF Orchestral Institute

Admissions Information for 2023

FINAL APPLICATION EXTENSION: All applications due on or before Wednesday, March 1, 11:59 p.m.

FEES, DATES, DEADLINES

Fees (all fees are non-refundable):

Application Fee: $80 (due with application)
Registration Fee: $300
Tuition: $0 (All participants receive a fellowship for the remaining tuition valued at $2700, underwritten by the Immanuel & Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival.)
Optional Room and Board Fees:
- Room and meals: $400 (UH Cougar Village I—double room/two-room suite, shared bath, kitchen, and laundry. Three meals daily in UH cafeteria.)
Participants who chose to live off-campus are responsible for their own housing/meals and must have reliable transportation.

Important Institute Dates:

Arrival/Housing Check-In (if staying on-campus): Saturday, June 3, AFTER 12 noon AND BEFORE 4 p.m. at UH Cougar Village I, located on the University of Houston campus at 4385 Cougar Village Dr., Houston, TX 77004. (Housing is NOT available before June 3—please plan your arrival accordingly). Participants are responsible for transportation to Houston and also to the UH campus—airport transportation is not provided.
Orientation: Saturday, June 3, 5:30 p.m.
Placement auditions: Sunday, June 3
Final Concert: Saturday, June 24, 7:30 p.m., Moores Opera House
Dorm Check-out: Saturday, June 25 by 12 p.m. Participants are responsible for own transportation.

Deadlines:

Recorded Audition/Application Deadline: Wednesday, March 1, 11:59 p.m.
Notification Deadline: On or before, April 1
Acceptance Deadline: April 11, 2023
- This includes your completed Acceptance Reply form, your $300 Registration Fee payment, and the optional Room and Meals ($400) Fee payment, all submitted through Acceptd

AUDITIONS

Admissions application/audition portal opens Dec. 23.

Submission deadline: Wednesday, March 1, 11:59 p.m.

Application link

Recorded Audition Information

The Texas Music Festival Orchestral Institute will accept applications and pre-recorded video auditions online only through our Acceptd application portal.  Applicants who wait to apply until the deadline (11:59 p.m. CST on February 23, 2023) may experience siginificant delays when uploading their audition materials.

PLEASE NOTE: All auditions should be submitted as a single video file (audio-only files not accepted) and must present all audition repertoire in the order listed, in one continuous and unedited performance. If submitting excerpts on auxiliary instrument(s), you may pause (do NOT stop) the recording to prepare your instrument, but the submitted audition file should be only one file. Please ensure that your audition conforms strictly to these requirements.

2023 Audition Requirements

Each instrument requires specific excerpts and solo requirements. Solos should be recorded without accompaniment.

Specific excerpts may be listed for piccolo, English horn, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet and contrabassoon.  Auxiliary instrument auditions are not required for the preliminary auditions.  However, it is expected that auxiliary duties will rotate in each section: 
• All flute participants are expected to bring a piccolo, if you have one. 

• All oboe participants are expected to bring an English horn, if you have one, with reeds reed-making equipment. Bring a device for supporting the weight of the instrument, if needed. 

• In addition to B-flat and A instruments, all clarinet participants are also expected to bring E-flat and bass clarinet instruments (if possible) and/or mouthpieces, if you have one. 

• All bassoon participants are expected to bring a contrabassoon, if available, with contrabassoon reeds and reed-making equipment. Bring a device for supporting the weight of the contrabassoon, if needed.

Strings

Violin (printable version)

1. Solo: Exposition from the first movement of a standard concerto

Excerpts:
2. Strauss: Don Juan
Beginning – end of first page
3. Mozart: Symphony No. 39
Movement II: Beginning – measure 27 (no repeats)
4. Mendelssohn: Scherzo from  A Midsummer Night's Dream
Beginning – 7 measures after Letter D

Viola (printable version)

Solo: Exposition from the first movement of a standard concerto

Excerpts:
Mendelssohn: Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
            Beginning to Letter D

Strauss: Don Juan
            Beginning to 9 measures after Letter B (omit pizzicato measures)

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
            IV: Fugue subject — measures 300-317, top line only

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
            First movement: 3 bars after rehearsal 13 until 6 bars after rehearsal 14

Cello (printable version)

Solo:
1. Exposition from the first movement of any standard concerto
Excerpts:
2. Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
a. Movement II: measures 1 – 10; 49 – 59; 98 – 106
b. Mvt. III: measures 140 – 213 (no repeat)
3. Brahms: Symphony No 2
Mvt. II: beginning to end of measure 15
4. Mozart: Symphony No. 35
Mvt. IV: measures 134-197
5. Strauss: Don Juan
Beginning – 5 measures before letter D

Double Bass (printable version)

Solos:
1. One movement from a Bach Cello Suite (no repeats)
AND
2. First movement from one of the following concertos:
Bottesini Concerto No. 2 (beginning to measure 58)
Dragonetti Concerto (beginning to measure 57)
Dittersdorf Concerto No. 2 (beginning to measure 98)
Koussevitzky Concerto (beginning to measure 77)
Vanhal Concerto (beginning to measure 83)
Excerpts:
3. Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Movement III: Beginning – 5 measures after Rehearsal A
4. Brahms Symphony No. 1
Movement I: Letter E – second ending
5. Mozart Symphony No. 40
Movement I: measures 114 – 138
6. Strauss Ein Heldenleben
Rehearsal Number 9 – Rehearsal Number 11

Woodwinds

Flute

1. Solo: Choice of Mozart Concerto in G or D, first movement exposition only

Flute 1 excerpts

2. Rossini: Overture to William Tell
Bars 181-185 and 191-195
One bar after letter F to bar 226

3. Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune
Opening four bars
Rehearsal 2 to rehearsal 3

4. Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
Movement 4 — Allegretto: 7 bars before Cadenza (III) to the end of the cadenza

5. Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 in G Major
Movement 4, letter D to letter E

*All excerpts can be found in Orchestral Excerpts for Flute, pub. Theodore Presser

Piccolo excerpts*

1. Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Movement 2, rehearsal 7-9
Movement 3, rehearsal 1 to 5 bars after 3

2. Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24 (piccolo 1)
Dance of the Sprites, opening - rehearsal 2;
Presto e leggiero - end

*All excerpts can be found in Orchestral Excerpts for Piccolo, pub. Theodore Presser

Oboe (printable version)

Solo:
1. Mozart: Concerto for Oboe in C Major, K.314
Movement I: Exposition

Excerpts:
2. Debussy: La mer
a. Mvt. II: mm. 17-18
b. Mvt. II: Reh. 25 — 5 mm. after Reh. 25
c. Mvt. III: 7 mm. after Reh. 54 — 9 mm. after Reh. 55

3. Copland: Symphony No. 3
a. Mvt. II: Reh. 37 — Reh. 39
b. Mvt. IV: Reh. 88 — 5 mm. after Reh. 93
c. Mvt. IV: Reh. 112 — 117 (play the downbeat and stop)

English horn excerpts (optional, but preferred, included in printout):
4. Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Movement II: measures 7 – 18

5. Debussy: La mer
a. Mvt. II: Reh. 16 - 17
b. Mvt. II: 8 mm. after Reh. 33 — Reh. 35

Clarinet (printable version)

Solo:

Mozart Clarinet Concerto — Mvt. I: mm. 57 – 98

Excerpts (B-flat and A clarinets):

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6: a. Mvt. I: excerpt as printed; b. Mvt. II: excerpt as printed

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Scherzo: beginning – Reh. B

Respighi: Pines of Rome: I pini del Gianicolo: two solos as marked

Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919): Variation de l’oiseau de feu: complete

Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2: a. Beginning to mm. 17; b. Rehearsal 211 - END

E-flat Clarinet Excerpts (optional, but preferred, included in printout):

Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks: a. 7 mm. before Reh. 29 – Reh. 32; b. 5 mm. after Reh. 38 – 4 mm. before Reh. 41

Bass Clarinet Excerpts (optional, but preferred, included in printout):

Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite: a. On the Trail: Reh. 2 – Reh. 3; b. 8 mm. before Reh. 13 – 4 mm. after Reh. 13

Bassoon (printable version)

Solo:

1. Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, K.191
Movement I: Exposition

Excerpts:
2. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Movement II: measures 274 – end

3. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6
Movement I: measures 1-12

4. Mozart: Marriage of Figaro Overture
Measures 139 - 171

5. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
a. Movement II: measure 5 – Rehearsal Letter A
b. 2nd measure of Rehearsal Letter L – Rehearsal Letter M

6. Ravel: Alborada del gracioso

Rehearsal No. 9 – 3^rd measure of Reh. No. 16 (top line solo)

Contrabassoon

Excerpts (optional, but preferred):

7. Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Mvt. IV: 1 measure before Letter A – 5 measures after Letter B

8. Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Mvt. IV: Reh. Number 2 – 12 measures before Reh. Number 4

Brass

French Horn (printable version)

Solo:

1. Mozart: Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major

Movement I: Exposition

Excerpts: (all Horn I parts, except when otherwise noted)

2. Debussy: La Mer

Mvt. 2 (Jeux de vagues): 3 mm. after Rehearsal #20 — 1 mm. before # 23

3. Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso (Horn 3)
Rehearsal # 4 - # 6

4. Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (Horn II)
Movement III: 4 mm. after # 13 – # 15

5. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
Movement I: 3 mm. after # 17 – 1 mm. after # 21
6. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel
Opening Solo

7. Copland: Symphony No. 3
a. Mvt. 2: Marsch: pickup to # 23 - 2 mm. after # 25
b. Mvt. 4: 54 mm. after # 91 - 3 mm. before # 92

Trumpet (printable version)

Solo: no solo is required

Excerpts (All excerpts should be the 1st trumpet part, except where indicated, and should only be played on a B-flat or C trumpet.):

1. Debussy: La mer

a. Movt. II (Jeux de vagues): Rehearsal 26 — 27

b. Movt. III (Dialogue du vent et de la mer): Rehearsal 44 — 45

c. Movt. III: Measures 5 - 7, after Rehearsal 52

2. Ravel: Alborado del Gracioso
Rehearsal 26 — 28 (2nd Trumpet part only)

3. Stravinsky: Petrushka

Part III: Ballerina's Dance: 1 measure before Rehearsal 134 — Reh. 139

4. Copland: Outdoor Overture
Measures 16 - 34

Tenor Trombone (printable version)

Solos (BOTH):

1. Bach Suite No. 3 in C for Solo Cello, Bouree No. 1 (no repeats)

2. David Concertino in E-flat major, Opus 4
Movement I: Letter A – Letter C

Excerpts:
3. Mozart Requiem
Tuba mirum: 2nd trombone solo (beginning – measure 18)

4. Strauss Ein Heldenleben (2nd trombone)
2 measures before Rehearsal Number 61 – 2 measures before Rehearsal Number 66

5. Ravel Bolero
Solo – Rehearsal Number 11

6. Wagner Die Walkure
a. Pick-up to Reh. Number 3 – 2 measures before Reh. Number 4 
b. Pick-up to Rehearsal Number 5 – 3 measures after Reh. Number 6

Bass Trombone (printable version)

Solo:

1. Alex. Lebedev Concerto in One Movement

Excerpts:

2. Strauss Ein Heldenleben
1 measure after Rehearsal Number 61 – 1st measure of Rehearsal Number 65

3. Haydn The Creation
Chor und Terzett: Beginning – Letter C

4. Respighi Fontane di Roma
Pickup to Rehearsal Number 11 – 9th measure of Rehearsal Number 15

5. Schumann: Syphony No. 3, Rhenish
Movt. IV: Beginning to measure 18
6. Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis
Movt. II. Scherzo (Turandot): Rehearsal Letter H – Rehearsal Letter N

Tuba (printable excerpts)

1. Solo: Please play a brief cantabile selection (2-3 minutes)

Excerpts:2. Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5, Mvt. 1

Rehearsal 3 – 3 measures after Reh. 4

3. Berlioz: Hungarian March from The Damnation of Faust
Rehearsal 4 – 4 measures after Reh. 5

4. Copland: Symphony No. 3, Mvt. 2

Pickup to Rehearsal 33 – Reh. 35

5. Mahler: Symphony No. 1, Mvt. 3

4 measures before Rehearsal 3 – 1 measure before Reh. 4 (as marked)

Harp (printable excerpts)

1. Solo: A solo from standard solo repertoire of no more than 5 minutes

Cadenza:

2. Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

Excerpts:

3. Strauss: Don Juan

Letter D – 6 measures before Letter G

4. Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra

a. Movt. IV: Measures 42 – 58

b. Movt. V: Measures 96 – 112, AND

Measures 345 – 356

Timpani/Percussion (printable version)

Timpani
1. Beethoven: Symphony No. 8: Mvt IV (6 before Reh K - End)
2. Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis: Mvt II. Turandot, Scherzo (5 after Reh S - T)
Snare Drum

3. Ravel: Alborada Del Gracioso: Reh 26 - 27 and

4. Ravel (cont'd): Reh 32 - End

Xylophone

5. Stravinsky: The Firebird Ballet (Reh 127 - downbeat of 133)

Glockenspiel

6. Debussy: La Mer, Mvt II (1 after Reh 16 - 5th measure of Reh 18)

Tambourine

7. Ravel: Alborada Del Gracioso: Reh 33 - End

Cymbals

8. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4: Mvt IV (m. 272 - End)

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