How to prep for music composition interviews

Hello!

My son has upcoming music composition interviews. Curious if there are folks who can share what he can expect from comp interviews in general and offer specific tips to prepare for the schools listed:

*interview is scheduled
**still waiting for prescreen results, but hoping to have interviews

**USC Thornton
**Vanderbilt Blair
*Peabody (he’s been told that all the comp faculty will be present at the interview)
*Oberlin
*Temple

My son is emailing each school to ask about which faculty member he’ll be interviewing with and for suggestions as to how to prep and what to expect.

He’s had one so far at Miami Frost, which he described as odd and unfocused. He doesn’t feel that interview experience was indicative of how the others will be.

For reference, he’s a jazz pianist wanting to major in comp and his compositions are modern classical. He speaks clearly and confidently about all things music, but he has no interview training. He has a decent music theory background. The pieces he submitted are a string quartet, a string octet, and a big band piece.

What types of questions might he be asked?
What concepts or terms should he brush up on?

His piano teacher helped him with the compositions but he doesn’t know anything about college interviews.

He has also applied to Bard (the music program, not the conservatory), Lawrence U (got a very generous merit offer), Loyola New Orleans (for the jazz, not sure about the comp), and Harvard.

Thank you!

Please don’t overthink this! The composition professors will be interested to explore your son’s interest in music, and in composing. They’ll want to know what interests him, how he approaches composing, what he’s hoping to get out of a program, possibly where he sees himself going with composition.
They will likely ask him something about the pieces he’s submitted and how he sets about composing.
If he needs to prepare - it’s to prepare in his own mind why he’s applying to a composition program and why he wants to study composition. And why he wants to study composition at that particular program rather than another. What appeals about it?

If he had to get up on stage to talk about his pieces to the audience before they were performed, what would he say?

In my S’s day, USC only asked for an interview if they didn’t get a good enough sense of the student from the works they submitted. To me, the music program in Bard College (not conservatory) sounds like a great option for your S.

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This is awesome advice, thanks!

I did interviews at Peabody and IU and neither of them asked any theory-related questions. Apart from questions about my own works, they both asked me who my favorite contemporary (living) composers were and why.

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It’s been a long time but interviews in our experience ranged from kind of hanging out (Oberlin) to a panel and overnight composition assignment( MSM) to a grilling (Juilliard), reputed to “test the will.” One interesting question was “How would you react to a teacher critiquing a piece.” In other words, would you go along or stand by your work? We were never sure if there was a right answer.

I won’t add much to the excellent advice above. Definitely having some favorite composers in mind is a good idea. Be preparedt o go over scores and explain. Preferred genres, envisioned future goals and so on.

A lot of these interviews are pretty chill and even fun.

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