Undergraduate Programs

To audition for the Bachelor of Music program, you must prepare a 15-minute program of two or three works of contrasting styles/periods that you will perform at an in-person or recorded audition. Some instruments may also require you to perform some technical patterns (e.g., scales or arpeggios) and may also ask you to sight-read (or play a brand-new piece).

Through your audition, you will need to demonstrate your abilities on one primary instrument. We will be assessing your technical and musical abilities as well as your ability to interpret different types of pieces or songs.

Audition Requirements by Instrument

Booking your Audition

Audition dates for the 2025/2026 academic year will be announced shortly. After you have applied through OUAC you will be contacted directly with instructions to book your audition. If you have any questions about the audition process, please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator Kim Gudlauski at kim.gudlauski@queensu.ca.

This stream is for musicians with an interest in performing in any contemporary genre, such as musical theatre, jazz, pop, rock, or country/folk, among others. You may be a singer/songwriter, musical theatre singer or pit musician, rock/pop musician, or a multi-genre musician.  

We want you to show us whatever represents your experience and ability best. Click on the button to learn more about the audition requirements. This audition has 2 components: repertoire and technique. The repertoire guidelines are meant to provide some choice and structure to help you showcase the breadth of your artistic abilities. We have provided some choice in your repertoire selection, since we know that people learn and perform music using different tools and approaches. The technical component is meant to assess your vocal or instrumental facility.  

If you have any questions about the audition process, please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator Kim Gudlauski at kim.gudlauski@queensu.ca.

Audition Requirements by Instrument

Booking your Audition

Audition dates for the 2025/2026 academic year will be announced shortly. After you have applied through OUAC you will be contacted directly with instructions to book your audition. If you have any questions about the audition process, please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator Kim Gudlauski at kim.gudlauski@queensu.ca.

This stream is for students interested in sound design, music-based performance art, and/or digital music creation, production, recording, and composition across all genres (including beat–, sample–, and loop–based music) . These requirements are meant to help you showcase your artistic ideas and technical abilities with various digital tools.  While some students applying to this stream may play a standard instrument, we expect that some applicants may not play a traditional acoustic instrument and will instead use a computer or other electronic means as their primary instrument. 

Please prepare the following for your application: 

• Three works of your choosing that show off your creative ability. These may be performances or compositions (or a combination of both) and can be audio or video recordings of:

  • music you have written such as an original song, soundtrack, beat, or composition;
  • sound design for radio, or stage theatre;
  • field recordings;
  • a cover, arrangement, remix, or other reinterpretation of someone else’s music;
  • a recording that you have mixed, engineered, or otherwise contributed to (be sure to indicate your role)

• These may be live-performed, submitted as a recording, or submitted in a common file format (e.g., MusicXML, .mp3, YouTube link, etc.). We may contact you during the admission process for another format or more documentation if we want to see more detail about your creative process. 

• A personal statement that details your inspiration and creation process for each piece, as well as your desired learning structure at Queen’s (i.e. what instrument(s) and genre(s) you are most proficient in as well as other areas you would like to learn). An online form will be provided for this component which you will fill in before your audition.  

Booking your Audition

Audition dates for the 2025/2026 academic year will be announced shortly. After you have applied through OUAC you will be contacted directly with instructions to book your audition. If you have any questions about the audition process, please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator Kim Gudlauski at kim.gudlauski@queensu.ca.