Please review and prepare all requirements thoroughly. Auditions and interviews are held in person at NIU in February, unless otherwise determined. Please register for your audition or interview date.
If you are unable to attend our formal audition days, contact our music admissions coordinator for permission to schedule an independent audition or obtain approval to submit an unedited video audition and complete a virtual interview.
Please bring copies of your music for the adjudication panel.
Students interested in pursuing our Bachelor of Music in Composition degree must:
Portfolios must be submitted electronically via a file sharing platform (i.e. OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.) to our music admissions and composition area coordinators and must include both scores in PDF format and audio files. Please ensure permissions are properly set (“Anyone with the link can view” or similar).
Your portfolio may be submitted any time prior to the fifth semester of study at NIU. Students may begin secondary composition instruction with faculty to develop a portfolio, or students may already have a portfolio for submission prior to beginning at NIU.
Our Master of Music in Individualized Specialization degree program permits qualified graduate students to emphasize music composition. An audition is not required, but an interview must be completed and a portfolio of compositions submitted as part of your application. Your portfolio should consist of at least three recent works exhibiting variety in terms of instrumentation, media, and style.
Portfolios must be submitted electronically via a file sharing platform (i.e. OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.) to our music admissions and composition area coordinators and must include both scores in PDF format and audio files. Please ensure permissions are properly set (“Anyone with the link can view” or similar).
Non-Composition Majors
Pending available space in our composition studio, undergraduate and graduate students who are not currently composition majors may also study composition for one or more semesters. While there are no specific prerequisites to this individualized study, preference will be given to undergraduate students who have successfully completed most of the core music theory and aural skills curriculum, and to graduate students who have completed the graduate music theory review or demonstrated proficiency in music theory preparation.