Lamont offers an exceptional environment for organists, combining individualized instruction with world-class resources and performance opportunities. Our studio is vibrant, where organists leverage Lamont’s exceptional resources in pursuit of artistic excellence. Guided by Prof. Cindy Lindeen-Martin, students engage in intensive private lessons, performance class, ensembles, and masterclasses with renowned guest artists. At Lamont studio, students celebrate each other’s successes and push one another to reach new artistic heights.
Audition Requirements
1-2 organ students at Lamont
3,000 pipes in our Schuke Orgelbau Berlin organ
300+ performance opportunities per year
Auditions
Applicants may choose to either audition in person in Denver OR submit a recorded video audition.
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 dates and the full steps for how to apply.
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In-Person Audition Requirements
All auditions are approximately 15 minutes in length. The applicant will choose one of their prepared works to perform. The faculty will choose the second of the prepared works and possibly an additional work as well.
Undergraduate (BM and BA-Applied Music)
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
- Baroque (e.g., prelude/fugue or chorale prelude by Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns, etc.)
- Romantic (e.g., Mendelssohn sonata movement, Brahms chorale prelude, Franck, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
- 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Langlais, Hindemith, Rorem, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Undergraduate (Minor)
- Ten (10) minutes of repertoire consisting of two (2) or more classical-genre pieces or movements including one work by Bach (prelude/fugue or chorale prelude).
- In certain cases, a student may be admitted who has had no organ study but does have a strong background in piano. In such individual cases, a piano audition is permitted instead of an organ audition.
- Memorization is not required
Graduate (MM and certificate in performance)
- Thirty (30) minutes of repertoire to include a work or representative movement from each of the following (for the Romantic and 20th/21st century work, one must be primarily lyric, and one must be primarily virtuosic):
- Before 1750—not Bach (e.g., Buxtehude, Sweelinck, French Classic, etc.)
- J. S. Bach (e.g. Prelude, Toccata, or Fantasy and/or Fugue; Trio Sonata movement; Passacaglia; Leipzig chorale prelude; Clavierübung chorale prelude)
- Romantic period (e.g., Mendelssohn, Reger, Franck, Guilmant, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
- 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Messiaen, Langlais, Dupré, Duruflé, Hindemith, Distler, Hakim, Guillou, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
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Video Auditions Requirments
Applicants unable to travel to Denver for a live audition may submit a video audition via the Lamont application. Repertoire may be recorded separately in multiple takes; editing within each take is prohibited.
Undergraduate (BM and BA-Applied Music)
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
- Baroque (e.g., prelude/fugue or chorale prelude by Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns, etc.)
- Romantic (e.g., Mendelssohn sonata movement, Brahms chorale prelude, Franck, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
- 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Langlais, Hindemith, Rorem, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
Undergraduate (Minor)
- Ten (10) minutes of repertoire consisting of two (2) or more classical-genre pieces or movements including one work by Bach (prelude/fugue or chorale prelude).
- In certain cases, a student may be admitted who has had no organ study but does have a strong background in piano. In such individual cases, a piano audition is permitted instead of an organ audition.
- Memorization is not required
Graduate (MM and certificate in performance)
- Thirty (30) minutes of repertoire to include a work or representative movement from each of the following (for the Romantic and 20th/21st century work, one must be primarily lyric, and one must be primarily virtuosic):
- Before 1750—not Bach (e.g., Buxtehude, Sweelinck, French Classic, etc.)
- J. S. Bach (e.g. Prelude, Toccata, or Fantasy and/or Fugue; Trio Sonata movement; Passacaglia; Leipzig chorale prelude; Clavierübung chorale prelude)
- Romantic period (e.g., Mendelssohn, Reger, Franck, Guilmant, Widor, Vierne, etc.)
- 20th or 21st Century (e.g., Alain, Messiaen, Langlais, Dupré, Duruflé, Hindemith, Distler, Hakim, Guillou, Paulus, etc.)
- Memorization is not required
- Twenty (20) minutes of repertoire to include three (3) pieces, each from a different period:
Life After Lamont
Lamont students have worked with some of the most prestigious music organizations in the world. Alumni have performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolf Trap, Vancouver Symphony, Broadway, the West End, and San Francisco Opera. Lamont composers have premiered works at Carnegie Hall and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and conductors have led orchestras from Brazil to Hungary. Graduates of our Musicology and music theory programs hold posts at prestigious institutions nationwide. And our recording and production students have launched careers in Hollywood, editing soundtracks for films like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Daniel Foster - MM 2020
Organist, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colorado Springs
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Deke Polifka - AD 2015
Organist St. Paul’s Memorial Church at the University of Virginia
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Daniel Romero - MM 2020
Director of Music, Grace Church in Newark, NJ
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The organ featured in Hamilton Hall.
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