All UMass and Five College students (not just Music majors) are welcome to play in UMass bands!
Link to UMass Wind Studies website =>
2023–24 Ensemble audition information
Orchestra/Wind Ensemble/Symphony Band placement auditions for Winds/Brass/Percussion will take place at the beginning of the semester.
(For Concert Band, see below.)
Wind/Brass/Percussion Orch/WE/SB (Feb. 1, 2, 3, 5)
Please fill out this Audition form => (Google form)
Please sign up for an audition time here => (Google Sheets; make sure to click on the correct tab for your instrument at the bottom of the form)
Large ensembles are Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, Concert Band, UMass Symphony Orchestra, & All-University Orchestra. Additional spring ensembles are Opera Orchestra and Studio Orchestra (jazz). You will have the opportunity to express your ensemble preferences on the Audition form.
See below for Wind/Brass/Percussion audition excerpts (Orch/WE/SB).
The UMass Amherst Bands are open to all students, subject to auditions held at the beginning of each semester, and appear in concert on campus several times a year. The Bands have represented UMass Amherst at conferences and festivals that have included Symphony Hall in Springfield, MA; the Washington, DC home of the Marine Band; and the Capitol Building in Boston.
Band descriptions
Placement Audition Excerpts, Spring 2024
For Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and Symphony Orchestra
Link to Google drive folder with audition materials =>
Includes flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, horn, trumpet, tenor/bass trombone, tuba/euphonium, percussion (cycle 2).
If you have questions about any of these excerpts or instructions, or if they are not linked here, please contact the studio teacher directly.
WIND/BRASS/PERCUSSION—For 2023–24 excerpts, see below or contact your applied teacher!
Chair and Associate Professor; Director of Wind Studies
Lecturer, Wind Studies
Senior Lecturer, Director of the Minuteman Marching Band