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| Auditions for the Notre Dame Chorale’s 2009-2010 season will be held Sunday, August 23, from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., and Monday, August 24, from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. and again 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m., in Penote Rehearsal Hall (Room 110) in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. This is a group audition for the Chorale, the Glee Club, the Liturgical Choir, and the Women’s Liturgical Choir. |
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As of June 2009, you may sign up for an audition by e-mailing Daniel Bayless, suggesting three possible times during the hours above that would work for you. He will respond by e-mail, assigning you an exact time for your audition. Soon, there will be a Web site devoted to sign-ups for the auditions. Its URL will be posted here as soon as it is up and running. You should arrive at the audition site ten minutes in advance of your audition time in order to fill out a brief information sheet. In addition to indicating your past experience in choirs and the voice-part you have sung in the past, 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. The results of the auditions will be posted at a designated site on Tuesday, August 25, around mid-day. 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. |