Keyboard Collaborative Arts

The application fee for the USC Graduate application is $90. Application fee waivers are available to qualified applicants, and must be requested before submitting the USC Graduate Application. If you plan to apply for a waiver of the USC Graduate Application fee, please do so at least two weeks before the application deadline. The deadline will not be extended for applicants who fail to request a fee waiver in time. Details and instructions can be found here.

All Thornton graduate applicants must upload transcripts into both the USC Graduate Application (Liaison) AND Thornton SlideRoom Application. The transcript submission deadline is October 1st. Please carefully read the instructions below.

Step 1– You must obtain official transcripts from the registrar’s office of each of your prior institutions before you can complete and submit the application forms. This may take some time, please plan accordingly.

Step 2– Upload Scans (PDF format) of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended into the “Academic History” section of the USC Graduate application (Liaison).

Step 3– Upload Scans (PDF format) of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended into the SlideRoom application where indicated.

Unofficial transcripts or documents printed from an on-line student system will not be accepted. Failure to upload scans of official transcripts in both application forms may significantly delay the release of a final admission decision.

When completing the USC Graduate application, it is important to pay special attention to the following items that you will find in the “program materials” section of the application:

• Thornton SlideRoom portal – A link to access the Thornton SlideRoom portal will be provided in this section.
• The Documents tab – Documents submitted in this section will not be accessible to the Thornton faculty. Thornton faculty will only be able to review documents submitted via the Thornton SlideRoom portal. In order to complete this section, you must check the box indicating that you do not wish to upload documents in this section.
• The Questions tab – Enter your SlideRoom Confirmation number where indicated (you will receive your SlideRoom confirmation number upon submission of the SlideRoom form).

Click here for important additional requirements and instructions.

A link to the SlideRoom portal is located inside the USC Application for Graduate Admission, in the “Program Materials” Section.

The SlideRoom application fee is $25 (fee waivers are not available). Thornton supplemental materials will not be accepted via mail or email.

The SlideRoom form must be submitted before the USC Application for Graduate Admission (Applicants can start both forms and work on them at the same time). Once SlideRoom is submitted, you will need to enter your SlideRoom confirmation number into the “Questions” tab, also located in the “program materials” section of the USC Graduate application.

Applicants to Keyboard Collaborative Arts must submit recordings to be prescreened by the faculty. Video recordings are required. Audio only recordings will not be accepted. The results of this prescreen will determine whether an applicant will be invited to perform a live audition on the USC campus in Los Angeles. The prescreen recordings must include:

1. One art song
2. One movement of an instrumental piece

Both pieces should be performed with partners.

The résumé should list musical, professional, and academic experience and is generally 1-2 pages in length.

This list should include works studied and performed. Etudes, scale studies, arias, art songs, chamber music, solo pieces, and original compositions are all examples of what could be included in this list.

Graduate applicants are encouraged to prepare a brief statement of their professional goals, as well as their purpose in applying for the Keyboard Collaborative Arts program. The Statement of Purpose is typically 1-2 pages in length.

All Thornton graduate applicants must upload transcripts into both the USC Graduate Application (Liaison) AND Thornton SlideRoom Application. The transcript submission deadline is October 1st. Please carefully read the instructions below.

Step 1– You must obtain official transcripts from the registrar’s office of each of your prior institutions before you can complete and submit the application forms. This may take some time, please plan accordingly.

Step 2– Upload Scans (PDF format) of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended into the SlideRoom application where indicated.

Step 3– Upload Scans (PDF format) of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended into the “Academic History” section of the USC Graduate application (Liaison).

Unofficial transcripts or documents printed from an on-line student system will not be accepted. Failure to upload scans of official transcripts in both application forms may significantly delay the release of a final admission decision.

1-3 recommendation letters are required from graduate KCA applicants. Recommendation letters are to be submitted online through the Thornton SlideRoom portal via the “References” section by December 1. We cannot guarantee the review of any material received after December 1.

Applicants to the Thornton School will be required to complete and upload the following form in SlideRoom:

• Parental Consent Form (if applicant is under 18 years of age by December 1, 2023)

For helpful Slideroom media upload troubleshooting tips, please click here.

For the live audition, applicants must submit a complete list of repertoire including: songs, arias, sonatas/multi-movement works, concerti, character pieces, complete operas; solo, choral, and ballet repertoire. The following repertoire is required for your live audition:

1. Two complete, contrasting instrumental sonatas
2. Four songs representing stylistic and linguistic variety
3. One aria
4. Two piano solos from contrasting stylistic periods performed by memory. Individual movements from multi-movement works, such as a single movement from a sonata or suite are acceptable.

Applicants should also be prepared for sight-reading and an interview as part of their live audition. The faculty will ask for demonstration of skills in diction and translation directly related to the texts of the songs and aria prepared for the audition. You may be asked to read the text aloud in the original language and may be asked to give the text translation in English.

During the live audition, you might be asked some of the following:

• Why do you wish to pursue a degree or certificate in Keyboard Collaborative Arts?
• Why would you like to study at USC Thornton?
• What sort of repertoire might you like to focus on in your studies at USC Thornton?

The Keyboard Collaborative Arts faculty welcomes and encourages repertoire composed by marginalized and/or under-represented groups, including but not limited to, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women. The Keyboard Department has compiled a list of works composed by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) composers as a resource for musicians. To view the list, please click here.

All sonatas are to be performed with an instrumentalist; all songs and arias with a singer. The auditionee normally is expected to supply both instrumentalists and singers. Should this not be possible, the KCA department faculty will be happy to play and sing with the auditionee. It is customary to perform instrumental and vocal literature with scores. Audition repertoire may be selected from but is not limited to the following suggested list:

Example Instrumental Repertoire List

Violin:

Beethoven

• Sonata in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”
• Sonata in c minor, Op. 30, No. 2
• Sonata in G major, Op. 30, No. 3

Brahms

• Sonata in G major, Op. 78
• Sonata in A major, Op. 100
• Sonata in d minor, Op. 108

Mozart

• Sonata in A major, K. 305
• Sonata in B-flat major, K. 454

Viola:

Bloch

• Suite for Viola and Piano

Brahms

• Sonata in f minor, Op. 120, No. 1
• Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2

Britten

• Lachrymae, Op. 48

Hindemith

• Sonata in F major, Op. 11, No. 4

Cello:

Beethoven

• Sonata in g minor, Op. 5, No. 2
• Sonata in A major, Op. 69

Brahms

• Sonata in e minor, Op. 38

Debussy

• Sonata in d minor

Mendelssohn

• Sonata in D major, Op. 58

Example Vocal Repertoire List

German:

Brahms

• Botschaft
• Meine Liebe ist grün

Schubert

• Der Wanderer
• Die Forelle
• Liebesbotschaft

Schumann

• Frühlingsnacht
• Mondnacht
• Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden

Strauss

• Allerseelen
• Ständchen

Wolf

• Auf einer Wanderung
• In dem Schatten meiner Locken

French:

Debussy

• from Ariettes Oubliées

Duparc

• L’invitation au voyage
• Phidylé

Fauré

• En sourdine
• Nôtre amour

English:

Barber

• from Hermit Songs
• I Hear an Army

Britten

• from On This Island
• Copland
• from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson

Arias

Mozart

• Martern aller Arten

Strauss

• Composer’s Aria

Stravinsky

• Anne Truelove’s Recitative/Aria/Cabaletta