Horn players at Lamont study with some of the most prominent performers, conductors, educators and scholars, including a brass faculty with over six decades of combined experience. David Byrd-Marrow, one of the most dynamic horn players in the industry, leads the horn studio. He also serves as the solo horn of the New York-based International Contemporary Ensemble and frequently appears with the Ojai Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center and as faculty at the Banff Music Centre.
The horn studio also takes full advantage of the multi-genre ensembles housed in the state-of-the-art Newman Center for the Performing Arts. Whether it’s a brass quintet, orchestra, wind ensemble, opera orchestra or a student-led group, our horn players never complain of not performing enough.
Applicants may choose to either audition in person in Denver OR submit a recorded video audition and complete a Zoom interview.
Applications received after January 15 will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. You may indicate your preference for a live or virtual audition on the Lamont application.
Click here to view the current year’s audition/interview dates and the full steps for how to apply.
Applicants unable to travel to Denver for a live audition may submit a video audition via the Lamont application AND will complete a live Zoom interview. Repertoire may be recorded separately in multiple takes; editing within each take is prohibited.
The interview will last about 20 minutes. It will include a performance of part of one of your prepared audition pieces, a short sight-reading exercise, and a Q&A with the faculty.
Undergraduate (BM, BA and Minor)
First movement of any Mozart concerto, or first movement of R. Strauss's Horn Concerto No. 1
Two contrasting etudes
Orchestral excerpts:
R. Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel - opening only
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5 - low horn tutti
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 - mvmt. 2 solo
Wagner - Götterdämmerung - short call
Major and minor scales
Sight-reading
Graduate (MM and certificate in performance)
Mozart Horn Concerto No. 4 (mvmt. 1 only, with cadenza)
Modern solo, written after 1982
Orchestral excerpts:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7, mvmt. 1, mm. 84–102 & m. 421–end
Go to the graduate admission application to submit your information. For information on admission requirements, visit the graduate academic programs page and locate your program of interest.
