Colburn School - Fortissima

• Must be an enrolled high school student in Fall 2024.
• Participants identify as women/girls from a minority group that is underrepresented in classical music or who have a socioeconomic disadvantage. 
• Demonstrate excellence on an orchestral instrument (includes piano)
• Ideal candidates also possess an interest or curiosity in pursuing careers in music.

• Monthly meeting with a distinguished mentor (mentors will be selected based on cohort makeup and will be announced in spring 2025)
• Bi-monthly leadership and career development training sessions

• Experience conservatory life first-hand:
  • Trial lessons with Colburn faculty based on availability
  • Access to Colburn facilities
  • Room and board in Colburn dormitories
• Explore the arts in Los Angeles
  • Attend concerts/cultural activities on Grand Avenue
  • Learn from local arts leaders spearheading innovation in the field
• Panels and workshops on topics such as:
  • Navigating the world of classical music as a woman of color
  • Wellness, self-care, and personal development
  • Conservatory audition and admissions process
  • Presentation skills, professional materials, and career development strategies
• Artistic development opportunities:
  • Learn and perform works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), women, and living composers
  • Chamber music coaching from Music Director, Jannina Norpoth, as well as Colburn School and visiting faculty
  • Give a culminating performance in Colburn School’s Thayer Hall on May 16th, 2025
• Access to ongoing alumni programming at the conclusion of the program

*Program (including travel to residential intensive) is provided at no cost to participants

For more information about Fortissima, visit colburnschool.edu/community-initiatives/fortissima/

Audition Guidelines:

Video Information
Please record each piece separately in one take. Be mindful of your camera and microphone positioning. Be sure to clearly label each upload with your name and the piece you are playing. Memorization and accompaniment are not required.

Piece of Choice
*All applicants are asked to include a piece of choice that reflects their own musical identity. This should uniquely reflect your musical style and taste. Selections may include music of ANY genre, a piece that reflects your cultural background, a self-composition, improvisation, arrangement, a solo work you love, an excerpt, a pre-recorded chamber work etc. You must perform your piece of choice. If you choose to submit a chamber music recording you must be member of the ensemble performing. Students are encouraged, but not required, to consider a work by a BIPOC composer. Students should also provide an explanation of why they have chosen this work, and in particular what resonates with them about it.

Helpful Links:
https://www.composerdiversity.com
https://www.musicbyblackcomposers.org


Bassoon
Etudes

1. Concerto movement 
2. One Etude of Contrasting Style 
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Cello

1. Concerto movement or solo equivalent 
2. Bach: An unaccompanied movement of the applicants choice
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Clarinet

1. Concerto movement
2. One Etude of contrasting style
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Double Bass

1. Concerto movement or solo equivalent 
2. One movement from Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites or Baroque equivalent 
3. Piece of Choice that is represents your musical identity*

Flute

1. Concerto movement
2. One contrasting solo work, etude or movement of a Sonata or Partita by J.S. Bach  
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Harp 

1. One solo that exhibits musical and technical proficiency 
2. One orchestral Cadenza (such as Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers, Swan Lake, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol or Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra)
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Horn 

1. One movement from a Classical Solo (ex: Mozart Horn Concerti, Morceau de Concert by Saint Saens, or Franz Strauss Nocturne) 
2. One contrasting etude from Kopprasch, "Sixty Selected Studies for French Horn." 
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Oboe

1. One movement of a concerto of choice
2. One contrasting movement of a solo piece (unaccompanied piece, sonata, or of the same concerto)
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Percussion

1. Marimba
   • Any movement of the Suites for Unaccompanied Cello or Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin by J.S. Bach
2. Snare Drum
   • A standard solo or etude from the list below 
     • Anthony J. Cirone, Portraits in Rhythm
     • Jacques Delecluse, 12 Studies for Snare Drum
     • Mitchell Peters, Intermediate or Advanced Snare drum etudes
3. Timpani
   • An excerpt of a symphony from the romantic period such as Beethoven, Brahms, or Tchaikovsky
4. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity (may be performed on any instrument)*

Piano

1. Virtuosic Etude (such as Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, or Stravinsky)
2. A classical sonata movement by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, or Schubert
3. A contrasting work either from the Baroque Period or 20th/21st century work 
4. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Tenor Trombone 

1. Bb Major and Gb Major Scales as follows:
   • 2 Octaves
   • Tongued up, slurred down
   • 1/4 = 84 bpm
   • Tonic played as ¼ note, everything else in 8th notes
2. Two contrasting études from Bordogni/Rochut, Koprasch, or Blazhevich Clef Studies.
3. One solo work such as Andante et Allegro by Barat, Morceau Symphonique by A. Guilmant, or Concerto No. 2 by Blazevich.
4. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Bass Trombone 

1.  Bb Major (starting below the bass clef staff) and G Major (starting at the bottom of the bass clef staff) Scales:
   • 2 Octaves
   • Tongued up, slurred down
   • 1/4 = 84 bpm
   • Tonic played as ¼ note, everything else in 8th notes
2. One lyrical etude from Bordogni/Rochut as printed in the trombone book.
3. Six to eight minutes of a completely prepared substantial solo for bass trombone (NOT a tuba solo).
4. Piece of Choice that is represents your musical identity*

Trumpet 

1. One movement from a Classical Solo, (ex: Neruda Trumpet Concerto, Haydn Trumpet Concerto, or Hummel Trumpet Concerto) 
2. One contrasting etude from one of the following books: Getchell no. 2, Wurm 40 Etudes, Voxman Selected Studies, or  Theo Charlier 36 Etudes Transcendantes for Trumpet, Cornet or Flugelhorn
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Tuba

1. The following scales: E Major, B Major, F Major
2. The Lebedev Concerto in One Movement 
3. One contrasting etude from one of the following books: Kopprasch, Blazhevich, or Bordogni
4. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Violin

1. Concerto Movement or Solo Equivalent 
2. Bach: An unaccompanied movement of the applicant’s choice
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

Viola

1. Concerto Movement or Solo Equivalent 
2. Bach: An unaccompanied movement of the applicants choice
3. Piece of Choice that represents your musical identity*

For questions about auditions and repertoire, please contact Jannina Norpoth, Fortissima Artistic Director, at jnorpoth@colburnschool.edu

For all other questions, please contact Laia Pujol, Assistant Director, Center for Innovation and Community Impact at the Colburn School at lpujol@colburnschool.edu

For technical questions, please visit the Acceptd Help Desk.