Auditions: Time & Place
Auditions — Time and Place
Auditions for the Notre Dame Chorale’s 2018-2019 season will be held:
• Saturday, August 18, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm
Sunday, August 19, from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and
• Monday, August 20, from 10:00 p.m. until noon; 1:00 until 5:00 p.m. and again 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.
in Room 329 Coleman-Morse.
This is a group audition for the Chorale, Glee Club, Liturgical Choir, Folk Choir, and Women’s Liturgical Choir.
The Audition Process
The Audition Process You may sign up for an audition on-line at 2018 Choral Auditions.
You should arrive at the audition site ten minutes in advance of your audition time in order to fill out a brief information sheet if you haven’t done so online. In addition to indicating your past experience in choirs and your voice-part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), you will indicate on the sheet which of the choirs is your first, second, and third choices. Almost everyone who is accepted is accepted into his or her first choice of choirs, but occasionally one choir has no more room for your voice-part. When this happens, a person who is accepted will be placed in his or her second (even occasionally) third choice of choirs.
If you have a song or aria that you know well and would show your voice to good advantage, bring a copy of it for the audition pianist (and another copy for yourself, if you need a score). Otherwise, you will be asked to sing a well-known hymn, such as Amazing Grace or My Country ’Tis of Thee. This is just to get a sense of what your voice sounds like singing an actual piece of music. Next you will be asked to sing a few scales and/or arpeggios to establish your best range. Then the pianist will play some three-note patterns on the piano. After each one, you will be asked to sing the pitches back (on the syllable “la”); this is to test your ear, i.e., your musical memory. Finally, you will be asked to sing the appropriate part for your voice of a short motet, with the pianist playing all the parts (including yours). This is to test your sight-reading.
The entire process takes only six to eight minutes, and those accepted into a choir will receive e-mail notification on Tuesday, August 26.
If you have never sung in a choir before, or never sung an audition, don’t worry! Many of the auditionees are in the same situation. There will be members of each choir on hand at the audition site to tell you more about the choir they represent. Each choir has its own schedule, its own repertoire, and its own traditions. The representatives of the choirs will also tell you that many students who now sing with confidence were inexperienced when they took their audition—but survived it. Looking back, they will assure you that, should you have a wish to sing in a fine college choir, you should audition for one, even if you are not sure of your ability. Many singers in the Notre Dame choirs form their closest friendships with other members of their ensemble. All in all, singing in one of the Notre Dame choirs may be among the best experiences of your college years.