Applicants who wish to audition or have a portfolio review in more than one area, and who demonstrate strength in more than one area may do so, however prior to enrollment, each student must select one art area. The audition or portfolio review is the single most important criteria for admission.
To scroll down to the appropriate section, click on one of the following areas: Ballet, Creative Writing, Music, Theater, or Visual Art.
On-campus or regional auditions take the form of a regular ballet technique class and include barre, centre work, and pointe where appropriate. Videotaped auditions are accepted only when an applicant who lives 250 miles or more from campus finds it impossible to attend either an on-campus or regional audition. The VHS or DVD should be approximately 15 minutes in length and should display a student's technical ability. Examples of classroom work consisting of both barre and centre combinations should be shown.
Ladies should include a pointe combination or variation. Videotapes should be submitted with the application materials. Ladies are asked to have their hair secured up, jewelry removed, and wear pink tights and ballet shoes with a solid-colored leotard, preferably not black. Ladies should also bring pointe shoes. Gentlemen are asked to wear black tights and a white leotard or T-shirt; white shoes and socks are preferred. Applicants must not wear leg warmers, skirts, sweaters, or shirts during the audition.
To make arrangements for an audition, please contact the Office of Admission at (508) 650-5020. Students are encouraged to make an appointment at least 4 weeks in advance.
On campus ballet auditions will be offered April 1, April 28 and May 19, 2008 and in one of the cities on our 2008 Ballet Audition Tour.
Samples of original work, as described below, should be received at Walnut Hill prior to the campus visit and interview. If an applicant lives 250 miles or more from campus, the required writing samples should be sent with the application materials and arrangements will be made for a telephone interview.
All applicants should submit a piece of prose in response to each of the prompts below. Your submission for each prompt should be no less than one page, and nor more than four pages, and it should be typed and double-spaced. Do whatever you wish with these prose pieces, as long as you focus on the topics. You may choose to write a pure description or you might choose to introduce one or more characters and use dialogue. Your use of language is most important here—seek a clear, strong, visual language that avoids clichés (i.e., overused phrases and descriptions), and that avoids sentimentality.
1. Describe A Place. This place might be your favorite place, your grandmother's house, a cityscape, or a landscape that touches you in some powerful way—positively or negatively. The piece should be as visual and evocative as you can make it so that the reader can truly experience the place with you.
2. Describe A Person. Write a "character study" of a person, any person, which allows the reader to see and understand who this person is. Don't merely tell us about this person. Instead, allow your piece to show us who he or she is through your choice of visual language. Consider the option of adding some sense of a voice speaking, if only a few lines of dialogue. Convey your clearest sense of the essence of this person.
3. Write a Piece in the First Person. No matter who this First Person is—it could be you, or someone you know from literature, or someone you’ve made up—the voice should be genuine enough to make the reader feel a tangible sense of the narrator through the observations and the voice provided.
4. Additionally, please submit one or two pieces of your own recent prose that you feel represents your best work.
Please submit a piece of verse in response to each of the prompts below. Please type all poems using either double- or single-spacing, whichever you prefer.
1. Revise A Prose Submission into Lines. Choose one of your prose submissions (see above) and transform it into a piece of verse. Do your best to make good lines and or stanzas out of the original. Feel free to alter the original in this revision, but try to maintain the same focus and meaning.
2. Compose An Acrostic. Write a piece of verse on any subject and at least 26 lines long, such that the initial letters of each line, when read DOWN the page, are in alphabetical order. For example, starting with “T”:
The bobcat’s wide-eyed snarl could not
Undo me, and I snarled back, more
Vicious than he was, and hungrier for
Wounded, welted pelt…
Begin your work with any letter—just stick to alphabetical order after that, even if you have to “wrap around” after using “Z.” It will be difficult to keep making sense. That’s okay. Try.
3. Write A Piece Of Verse That Rhymes. Compose a short piece of verse (no longer than 24 lines) that uses end rhyme. Try to keep the lines just about the same length. This piece may be on any subject; avoiding “stock” topics such as love may help you to find fresh, interesting, contemporary diction.
4. Additionally, please submit one or two pieces of your own recent work in verse that you feel represents your best work.
All submissions should be typed; double-space when typing prose.
Portfolio reviews at Walnut Hill may be scheduled at any time when classes are in session and during the summer session. To make an appointment, please contact the Office of Admission and Placement at (508) 650-5020. Students are encouraged to make arrangements at least four weeks in advance.
Instrumental and voice applicants are required to perform an audition on campus or at a regional audition. Composition majors are asked to submit a portfolio of representative works. Auditions recorded on audiotape, compact disc, or DVD are accepted only when an applicant lives 250 miles or more from campus and is unable to travel to Walnut Hill for an audition.
On-Campus Auditions
Audition days at Walnut Hill generally occur twice a month when classes are in session. Auditions are also available during the summer session. Auditions are heard by the acting Director of Music or other appropriate faculty. Theory or ear-training tests are not given at the time of the audition. Accompanists will be provided for vocal auditions only; instrumentalists are not expected to audition with a pianist. To schedule an audition, please contact the Office of Admission and Placement at (508) 650-5020. Students are encouraged to make arrangements at least four weeks in advance.
Auditions via Audiotape/Compact Disc/DVD
Repertoire suggestions for tape recorded are the same as for on-campus auditions and are listed below. Please label your audiotape/CD/DVD clearly with your name, major instrument, and list of repertoire. We ask that all recorded auditions be high-quality audiotape/CD. Due to the low audio quality of VHS tapes, we ask that these not be submitted.
Audition Requirements
Audition materials should demonstrate the applicant's musical and technical ability, and be representative of his or her present stage of development and potential for growth. The repertoire suggestions listed below are intended only as guidelines in preparing an audition and should not restrict your choice of pieces. Because New England Conservatory at Walnut Hill applicants represent a wide variety of ages and backgrounds, we understand that fulfilling these suggestions is not always possible. We are interested in knowing your current level and in hearing your present repertoire. Please consult your teacher or conductor to help you select and prepare your materials.
Brass
Two works from the standard repertoire (including etudes, solos, and orchestral excerpts) showing contrast in style and technique.
Composition
Submit two or three original compositions in neat manuscript form with the application. At least one of these should be written by hand. A recording demonstrating level of proficiency on your major instrument is also required. Please choose instrumental repertoire from the appropriate category.
Guitar
One work, each from two of three categories:
1. Baroque or Renaissance
2. Classical or Romantic
3. Twentieth Century
Harp
Two representative works showing contrasting in styles and techniques.
Percussion
Percussionists should display proficiency and level of ability in each of three areas: mallets, snare drum, and timpani.
Piano
Three or four pieces, by memory, from the following repertory suggestions:
One movement from a Bach prelude and fugue or partita
One movement from a Classical sonata (e.g., by Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven)
A substantial Romantic piece (e.g., Brahms Rhapsody or Chopin Ballade)
A work from the twentieth century
Strings
Three or four pieces from the following repertory suggestions:
One movement from a Bach suite or partita
One movement from a Classical sonata (e.g., by Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven)
One movement from a substantial nineteenth or twentieth century work
The first movement of a concerto from the standard repertoire
Voice
Two or three contrasting Classical pieces including one in English (which must be the original language of the piece) and one in another language, preferably Italian. These pieces should be performed from memory and should not be from the musical theater repertoire.
Woodwinds
Two contrasting movements from the standard sonata, concerto, or concert music repertoire. We encourage you to include representative works of the twentieth century. To make arrangements for an audition, please contact the Office of Admission at (508) 650-5020. Students are encouraged to make an appointment at least 4 weeks in advance.
Auditions at Walnut Hill may be scheduled at any time when classes are in session, with the exception of performance dates. VHS taped auditions are accepted only when an applicant lives 250 miles or more from campus and is unable to travel to Walnut Hill for an audition.
Theater applicants must prepare two monologues, not exceeding a total length of four minutes or one monologue and one song, again not exceeding a total length of four minutes. The two monologues should demonstrate contrasting styles; for example, one comic and one serious, or one classical (written before AD 1900) and one contemporary. The song must be chosen from the American musical theater repertoire and may be accompanied by a tape or sung a cappella.
Monologue and Song Guidelines
1. Your selections must be memorized.
2. Choose your monologue(s) from plays. Do not use poems or material from a one-person show.
3. If you use a selection from a monologue book, make certain that you read the entire play and understand the given circumstances of the monologue.
4. If you are singing, we are only interested in your interpretation of the piece; familiarity with the production that the song is from is not necessary.
5. Try to choose a monologue in which you speak directly to one other person.
To schedule an appointment, please contact the Office of Admission and Placement at (508) 650-5020. Students are encouraged to make arrangements at least four weeks in advance.
Home Test: Observational Drawing
Students applying to participate in the Visual Art program at Walnut Hill School display a wonderful variety of artistic skills, background experience, training and interests in the visual arts. This home test is meant to assist the Admissions Committee in assessing the experience and commitment of those applicants interested in joining the Visual Art Department of the Walnut Hill School.
While the home test obviously places a strong emphasis on drawing, the Admission Committee does not use this criterion alone to evaluate an applicant.
Each applicant is considered individually, based on his or her unique potential to grow, thrive and develop as a young artist at Walnut Hill. Each and every portfolio piece is carefully considered, and all applicants are strongly encouraged to include and present a variety of mediums in their portfolio. Please include any work that you feel demonstrates your ability as a visual artist.
- Closet Drawing – Using a drawing pencil and/or a black drawing pen of your choice, on an 11”x 14” piece of white drawing paper, spend 2 hours (time yourself exactly) doing an observational drawing of the inside of your bedroom closet. Do not draw from a photograph; just open your closet and draw what you see; stop after two hours even if you feel the work is unfinished.
- Self Portrait Drawing – While looking in a mirror, do a self-portrait on an 11”x 14” piece of white drawing paper. For this drawing, use only colored pencils, oil pastels, or colored markers (you may choose to combine them or use them separately). Spend at least 1 hour on this drawing, but not more than 3 hours even if you feel the work is unfinished.
- Food Sketches – On a table, arrange 2-5 objects of food (of any kind) together, and then do not move them. On 8”x 10” pieces of white drawing paper, do three pencil sketches from three different angles of this small still-life. Spend only 30 minutes on each sketch even if you feel the work is unfinished.
On-Campus Review
Applicants are asked to bring slides or original work with them to the on-campus portfolio review conducted by a member of the faculty. Original work brought to campus should not exceed the dimensions of 40 x 60 inches. If the work is larger, bring a slide or photograph of the piece.
Mailed Portfolio Review
The Office of Admission and Placement encourages all applicants to submit portfolios in slide format by mail or digital format submitted as a JPG document via e-mail. Both should be accompanied with a fact sheet listing corresponding dimensions, title, medium, and date. Applicants who wish to submit original work should not exceed the dimensions of 40 x 60 inches. If the work is larger, submit a slide or photograph of the piece. Only unframed work may be submitted.
Portfolio reviews at Walnut Hill may be scheduled at any time when classes are in session. To schedule an appointment, please contact the Office of Admission and Placement at (508) 650-5020.
