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Audition Information

 

General Information

ALL students, regardless of major or class year, are welcome to audition for a choral ensemble!  When audition week arrives, sign up for one of the audition times on the Choral Studies bulletin board located on the first floor in the Dalton Center.  Please sign up for the earliest available time to ensure that there are enough spaces for all singers.  Information about the ensembles, rehearsal times, and the yearly concert schedule will be available next to the sign-up sheet.  Please familiarize yourself with the schedule, particularly concert dates and times, to avoid scheduling conflicts.  Auditions are generally held in room 1116 (Rehearsal Room A – Choral) or the Recital Hall of the Dalton Center. In the spring semester, they are held in 1720 (Dr. Adams' office).

* Those interested in learning more about the audition process for our graduate program in choral conducting should look under at the Graduate Studies page. *

Choral Ensemble auditions for University Chorale and Cantus Femina occur at the beginning of every fall semester.  Collegiate Singers and Collegium auditions occur before every fall and spring semester.  Grand Chorus auditions will be held at the beginning of each semester.

Fall Semester Auditions are held for one week before classes start.
Spring Semester Auditions are held in December and early January.

This year's audition dates and times are:

August 30, 2013 - 9:00am-6:00pm, 7:00-9:30pm
August 31, 2013 - 9:00am-6:00pm
September 1, 2013 - 12:00pm-6:00pm
September 2, 2013 - 9:00am-6:00pm
September 3, 2013 - 11:00am-4:00pm

Callbacks for Chorale & Cantus Femina:
September 3, 2013 - 6:00-9:00pm

Spring Semester Auditions:
December 9, 2013 - 2:00-4:00pm
January 6, 2013 - 2:00-5:00pm
January 9, 2013 - 6:30-7:30pm (Grand Chorus Only)

For more information on Grand Chorus auditions, please visit:Grand Chorus.

The Audition Process

Be sure to arrive a few minutes early to your audition in order to pick up and fill out an audition form. The audition, though short, will consist of several components:

1. Solo Song
   Please prepare a short song to sing.  The piece should be range-appropriate and demonstrate the overall quality of your singing.  Voice majors must prepare a piece from their repertoire.  An accompanist will be provided, if needed.  Instrumentalists or non-majors may sing a folk song or patriotic song (such as "My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) as their representative piece. 
2. Sight Reading
   Each student will be given short musical examples to read unaccompanied. A starting pitch will be given and you will have a short period to look over the example.
   
3. Pitch Memory
   Each student will also be asked to sing some short tonal memory exercises
   The accompanist will play a series of four to six pitches and ask you to repeat them on your own.
4. Range Exercises/Vocalises
   Some students may be asked to sing through a few simple vocalizes (“warm-up” sequences) so that the directors can get a more thorough understanding of their ranges and tone qualities.

Callbacks

Students interested in auditioning for University Chorale and Cantus Femina will also be required to learn a short choral excerpt in advance of the callbacks.  This music can be obtained from the Choral Studies bulletin board once the callback list is posted (24 hours in advance of callbacks). Callbacks this year will be:

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - 6:00-9:00pm 

Contact

Questions can be directed to Dr. Kimberly Dunn Adams at:
Kimberly.Adams@wmich.edu