Queensland Conservatorium

Application and admission procedures: Undergraduate programs

Applications

Domestic applicants

Selection of applicants for the Conservatorium's programs is based on various requirements, which may include satisfactory results in an audition, written or oral interview, presentation of folio, Conservatorium-administered tests of musical knowledge and ability as well as OP. Carefully check the specific requirements for the program/s you wish to apply for. You must apply in the year before beginning studies at the Conservatorium.

Queensland and interstate Year 12 students

If you are a current Queensland or interstate year 12 student you can apply by lodging an application via QTAC's Twelve-To-Tertiary online application service. For more information, contact the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre.

New South Wales Year 12 students

As a current New South Wales year 12 student, you will receive a UAC Guide through your school. This guide includes Griffith programs offered at the Gold Coast campus. For more information, contact the Universities Admissions Centre.

Other Australian applicants

All other applicants who are Australian or New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents, including candidates for the Queensland External Senior Examination, can apply by lodging an application via QTAC's Apply-By-Web application online application service. For more information, contact the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre.

Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

Applicants 21 years of age and older who do not have any formal qualifications or whose results are insufficient for entry may nominate for the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT). For more information, contact the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre.

International applicants

All International students completing an Australian Year 12 study course should apply on a full-fee basis through QTAC. All other International applicants applying from within or outside Australia should follow the procedures below or contact Queensland Conservatorium Student Administration for information:

International applicants must:

  • complete an Application for Admission as an International student form - available from Griffith International or from the Conservatorium
  • submit certified copies of academic records (transcripts), qualifications and any record of experience (include course outlines of relevant courses if applying for credit)
  • submit a certified copy of English language proficiency test results (not more than two years old)
  • pay the application fee of AU$50.00 by credit card or bank draft - payable to 'Griffith University International Office'.
  • attend an audition or submit a CD or DVD (instrumental and vocal applicants) - see 'Auditions' for details; or
  • submit a folio of work (composition or music technology applicants).

There is no deadline for International applicants making an application with a recorded audition. However, it is advisable to apply by 31 October for Semester 1 entry in the following year.

All international applications should be submitted to Griffith International.

English language requirements
Notification of admission

The Conservatorium makes its offers through QTAC in either the December early round or the January major round. International students are advised of their result by Griffith International after the application has been assessed. Students are required to be at the Conservatorium for Orientation to be held in February 2012.

Deferment

You cannot defer your place at the Conservatorium. If you are unable to accept an offer, you must re-apply for entry in the usual way the following year. For more information, contact Student Administration Queensland Conservatorium.

Auditions

Domestic applicants

All Queensland Conservatorium applicants must complete an audition application:

The closing date for audition applications is 15 August 2011. After all audition forms have been processed, candidates will be informed of their audition date and time via email.

Application for audition forms are also available from the Conservatorium. A non-refundable registration fee of $45 per applicant applies and should be submitted with the Application for audition form.

Bachelor of Music Technology applicants will not be required to attend an audition or interview.

Some areas permit applicants who are genuinely unable to travel to Brisbane (for example, International applicants) to submit a good-quality audition DVD or audio recording. The recording must be dated and certified as being an unedited performance by the applicant and signed by the person in charge of the recording session. Please contact the Conservatorium to check which areas permit recordings. It may be possible for individual auditions to be arranged at other times during the year, for applicants travelling to Brisbane on other business. However, this cannot be guaranteed. Please contact the Conservatorium well in advance.

The audition session for undergraduate entry in 2012 will be held from Monday 26 September to Friday, 30 September 2011* in Brisbane, Queensland. Applicants must be available for audition on all days during this period.

[*] Please note: Guitar and Harp auditions will take place on Wednesday, 5 October and Thursday, 6 October. All applicants will still be required to complete the Music Theory Test during the main audition week (dates above).

For more information, applicants should contact Student Administration at the Queensland Conservatorium.

Bachelor of Music
Classical Instruments

Applicants will be required to complete:

  1. A performance audition based on three contrasting pieces of their choice. Not all pieces will necessarily be heard and not all pieces will be heard in their entirety. Some instrumental areas may require a quick-study piece or a sight-reading example. Some instrumental areas may prescribe one or more set pieces.
  2. An interview in which applicants will be asked about their directions and goals, musical experience, musical knowledge, general education and other relevant matters. Applicants may present a resume of achievements and experience at the interview, if they wish. Together the playing audition and interview will last about 15-20 minutes.
  3. A written test of about 45 minutes duration covering:
    • aural musicianship such as recognition of intervals, chords, simple harmonic progressions and rhythmic and melodic tests; plus
    • music reading and writing skills and general musical knowledge.
Classical Voice

Applicants will be required to complete:

  1. A performance audition based on two contrasting pieces of their choice (it is important that these are within vocal capabilities but showing potential). Pieces will not necessarily be heard in their entirety.
  2. An interview in which applicants will be asked about their directions and goals, musical experience, musical knowledge, general education and other relevant matters. Applicants may present a resume of achievements and experience at the interview, if they wish. The playing audition and interview will together last about 15-20 minutes.
  3. A written test of about 45 minutes duration covering:
    • aural musicianship such as recognition of intervals, chords, simple harmonic progressions and rhythmic and melodic tests; plus
    • music reading and writing skills and general musical knowledge.
Composition (including Jazz)

Applicants who are focused on writing popular songs should apply for the Bachelor of Popular Music rather than the Composition specialty in the Bachelor of Music program.

Applicants will be required to:

  1. Submit a folio comprising three or more of the applicant's compositions or equivalent evidence of musical creativity. Various media may be used and recordings included, if available. Each item should be of reasonable length, depending on the nature and context of the composition (e.g. 30 bars or more, or one or more minutes). Applicants must bring the folio with them on the day of their audition interview.
  2. Complete an interview in which they will be asked about their directions and goals, musical experience, musical knowledge, general education and other relevant matters. Applicants may present a resume of achievements and experience at the interview.
  3. A written test of about 45 minutes duration covering:
    • aural musicianship such as recognition of intervals, chords, simple harmonic progressions and rhythmic and melodic tests; plus
    • music reading and writing skills and general musical knowledge.
Jazz Instruments

Applicants will be required to complete:

  1. A performance audition based on three contrasting pieces. At least one of these should demonstrate an ability to improvise over a common jazz form such as blues or a 32-bar standard tune. Not all pieces will necessarily be heard in their entirety. Use of pre-recorded or live accompaniment is acceptable. Audition repertoire can be contrasting in terms of tempo and mood; style (swing, bossa nova, samba, ballad, funky); form (blues, 32-bars, other lengths); and tonality (major, minor, blues). Suggested Jazz repertoire:
    • Blues: Now's the Time, C-Jam Blues, Centrepiece, Sonny, Moon for Two.
    • Bossa nova: Black Orpheus, Blue Bossa, Gentle Rain, Recordame, Perdido, any composition by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
    • Standards: Autumn Leaves, Summertime, Beautiful Love, God Bless the Child, Stormy Weather, Misty, Take the 'A' Train, any standard by Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Schwartz, Rodgers, Ellington, Arlen, Kern, etc.
    • Jazz drummers may include a snare drum study as one of the pieces.
    • Saxophonists may include an etude (e.g., Lennie Niehaus, Jim Snidero) as one of the pieces.
    • Pianists may include a transcription (e.g., Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans) as one of the pieces.
      Students may be asked to sight-read.
  2. An interview in which applicants will be asked about their directions and goals, musical experience, musical knowledge, general education and other relevant matters. Applicants may present a resume of achievements and experience at the interview, if they wish. The playing audition and interview will together last about 15-20 minutes.
  3. A written test of about 45 minutes duration covering:
    • aural musicianship such as recognition of intervals, chords, simple harmonic progressions and rhythmic and melodic tests; plus
    • music reading and writing skills and general musical knowledge.
Jazz Voice

Applicants will be required to complete:

  1. A performance audition based on three contrasting pieces. Candidates need to show through their repertoire selection an interest in improvising in a jazz style and may be asked to solo over a blues form. Audition repertoire can be contrasting in terms of tempo and mood; style (swing, bossa nova, samba, ballad, funky, popular, music theatre); form (blues, 32-bars, other lengths); and tonality (major, minor, blues). At least two of the repertoire selections should be a blues or jazz standard in the style of such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett or Kurt Elling. A jazz standard is virtually any song by Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Rodgers, Arlen, Schwartz and Ellington. Use of pre-recorded or live accompaniment is acceptable.
  2. An interview in which applicants will be asked about their directions and goals, musical experience, musical knowledge, general education and other relevant matters. Applicants may present a resume of achievements and experience at the interview, if they wish. The playing audition and interview will together last about 15-20 minutes.
  3. A written test of about 45 minutes duration covering:
    • aural musicianship such as recognition of intervals, chords, simple harmonic progressions and rhythmic and melodic tests; plus
    • music reading and writing skills and general musical knowledge.
Musical Theatre

Applicants will be required to complete a possible two phases:

  1. Phase 1:
    • Dance - Following a warm-up and basic technical exercises applicants will be taught a short routine which they will present to the panel.
    • Singing - Applicants will present one song to the panel. (Due to time limitations, a vocal warm-up will not be provided as part of the audition. Applicants should come prepared.) You should, however, prepare two singing pieces from the Musical Theatre repertoire, these should: last no longer than 2 minutes each; not be from the classical repertoire (this includes Opera); not be accompanied by a backing track; be performed in the key in which they’re written (the pianist will not transpose at sight, into a different key); give you the opportunity to act through the content of the words as well as to sing the tune.
  2. Depending on your Phase 1 audition, you may be asked to return for Phase 2:
    • Acting: Applicants will present two acting pieces to the panel. These pieces should: last no longer than 2 minutes each; only be from published plays; not be extracts from poems or novels; and one piece must be modern - after 1945.
    • Voice: Applicants spoken voice will be considered during the performance of their Acting pieces.
    • Singing: Applicants will present their second song to the panel.
Bachelor of Music Technology

Applicants for admission to the academic program will not have an audition but will be required to:

  1. Provide:
    • a portfolio of original works consisting of one (single) 15-45 minute CD or CD-R of music recorded/created by the applicant, together with a technical description of each work on the CD. This description should include a brief overview of the technical set-up, a brief discussion of any problems encountered, the solutions to these problems, and an evaluation of the overall results - aesthetic considerations are important. (The written component should be approximately 1-2 pages for each work included on the CD. Multiple works can be discussed jointly as a single “project”, however more than one “project” is desirable.)
    • a written resume of achievements and experience
    • a written statement of the applicant's career airms and goals (one page).
  2. The recordings should be clearly identified and attached securely within the overall folio submission. The resume of achievements and experience should:
    • be submitted in a format no larger than A4
    • clearly identify all of the applicant's significant details including name, address, telephone number and email address
    • provide a detailed outline of relevant music and technology experience, knowledge and opportunities, career goals, general education, and other supporting information
    • present a complete listing of audio titles presented in the recording folio, together with composition, recording credits and supporting information as necessary to fully describe the work.
  3. Applicants must submit the recording folio and resume to Student Administration at the Conservatorium by the week of 26-31 September2011. Folios are not returned.
  4. Be ranked on academic standing (OP), have a 'Sound Achievement' in Year 12 English and a 'Sound Achievement' in either Maths A, B or C. Applicants over the age of 21 can sit the Special Tertiary Admittance Test (STAT) through QTAC.
Bachelor of Popular Music

Applicants for admission to this academic program will be required to:

  1. Complete an interview in which they will be asked about their musical directions and goals, musical experience and knowledge, familiarity with audio hardware and/or software, general education, and other relevant matters. Applicants should provide a resume of achievements and experience at the interview.
  2. Present a recording folio on CD as well as a live instrumental or vocal performance.  The CD should be accompanied by documentation describing the applicant's contribution, for example, writing, recording, performance.
  3. The recorded folio and live performance can include covers but original compositions are preferred. For the live performance, applicants should prepare three contrasting pieces and include original material. Collaborative compositions are acceptable. Pieces will not necessarily be heard in their entirety. Applicants should bring the folio with them on the day of their audition interview. Components one and two will last about 20 minutes.
Certificate in Music Studies

Applicants for admission to this academic program will complete the same audition, interview and test requirements as for the Bachelor of Music.

International applicants

International applicants may submit a good quality audition recording. Recording formats need to be CD (data formats/MP3 are not acceptable) or DVD. It must be dated and certified as being an unedited performance by the applicant and signed by the person in charge of the recording session. It may also be possible for live auditions to be arranged during the year. Please contact the Griffith International in advance. The audition requirements vary according to the type of program you wish to apply for.

 

Last modified: 14-Jun-2011

 

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