During your time as a music major at the Hurley School of Music, you will be evaluated by the faculty several times. These evaluations are designed to assess your progress toward graduation and to help you be the best possible musician.

These are the evaluations you can expect:

 

Juries

A jury is the most common performance exam. Juries occur at the end of each semester during exam week. Every student enrolled in private music lessons presents a list of repertoire they have studied that semester, and performs a portion of that repertoire for a faculty panel. The panel is composed only of the faculty members who specialize in the same instrument or area you are studying. Your grade on the jury affects your semester grade in private lessons.

Students will perform the required amount and level of repertoire on their principal instrument (or voice), and answer questions concerning the repertoire they are presenting. Music majors will also sight-read using their principal instrument.

You are not required to present a jury in the same semester you perform a recital, unless your recital is scheduled before mid-term. In that case, your teacher will assign you a portion of the material usually required for that semester and you will take a jury exam.

All students taking juries are responsible for filling out a Jury Repertoire Sheet (kept by the Music Office) and seeing that these sheets are completely and correctly completed. Bring one copy with you to the jury for the faculty panel. The faculty panel will allow you to begin with your choice of repertoire. They may then select any other piece on your list, to hear all or a portion of the work you have done.

Bring all of your music with you to your jury, and list all of the work you have done during the semester on your sheet, including etudes or other technical studies.

Students who are ill, or who have a family emergency during the day of their scheduled jury may receive an “Incomplete” grade for the course. Students who receive an “Incomplete” for their jury grade are encouraged to complete the exam as soon as possible during the following semester, so they can begin work on their new repertoire for that semester.

For further specific information about juries, students should contact their applied music teachers.

Piano Proficiency

All music majors will be expected to demonstrate an adequate proficiency in piano. Piano assessment happens three times during your studies at Centenary. All new students must take a piano assessment given by the piano faculty before they begin classes. Students who need beginning keyboard technique must take and successfully pass Piano Class 130 and 131. In order for a student to successfully complete a Piano Class, that student must make a final grade of C or higher. Any grades lower than this will result in the student repeating the same course the next time it is offered. Students may not proceed to Piano Class 131 until they have passed 130. Students who qualify for private piano lessons may take them
in the place of Piano Class.

During the Sophomore Assessment (see below), students will take another piano exam. They must demonstrate keyboard skills in playing scales, sight reading and accompanying to pass the Sophomore Assessment. The Senior Assessment course contains the final keyboard exam, which covers the same material as the Sophomore Assessment keyboard exam. Students must pass the Senior Assessment course to graduate.

 

Sophomore Assessment

This exam occurs at the end of the fourth semester of private study. A panel composed of full-time faculty members and the part-time faculty members who specialize in the performance area in which the student is studying assess each sophomore student. The Sophomore Assessment consists of four basic components: performance, sight-reading, communication skills (interviews during juries and Sophomore Assessment), and keyboard proficiency. The purpose of the assessment is to determine if the student is making appropriate progress toward graduation in his/her studies. All students must pass this exam to continue as music majors. Students will perform the required amount and level of repertoire on their principal instrument (or voice) and will sight-read using their principal instrument. Composition students must present five minutes of original work, representing at least two genres, plus five minutes of music on their major instrument. Original works should be in both score and recorded or live form. All students must also be prepared to answer questions concerning the repertoire they are presenting. The faculty panel will pose these questions. A separate keyboard proficiency exam will take place on another day, and is part of the total evaluation.

Students will receive a grade of pass, probation, or fail on the exam. Probationary students will receive a letter detailing which portions of the exam must be retaken and the conditions of the probation. Students who fail all or any portion of the exam may retake the whole exam or the appropriate portion twice more at the conclusion of the next appropriate semester, and must ultimately pass with no probationary results. Students who fail the sight-reading portion of the exam will be required to complete an online tutorial at their own expense prior to retaking the sight-reading portion of Sophomore Assessment. Students who fail the keyboard portion of the exam must register for and successfully complete applied piano lessons before retaking the keyboard portion of the Sophomore Assessment. A student who does not successfully complete the entire Sophomore Assessment by the third attempt will NOT be allowed to continue his or her degree program in the Hurley School of Music. In the event this occurs, the academic advisor and the Dean of the Hurley School of Music will guide the student in choosing a new degree program that suits his or her needs and goals.

Students should turn in a copy of their repertoire for the Qualifying Exam one week in advance of the scheduled evaluation. Blank forms are in the music office.