Auditions

Singers must pass auditions which are usually held in September for our Winter concert and in January for our Spring concert. Singers must be able to sing on key and to read music—at least a little. A knowledge of sight-singing is helpful, but not necessary so long as the music is learned as we go along.

Auditions are held at the First Presbyterian Church at 124 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. This is also where we have our rehearsals every Tuesday evening from 7:30 to 10:00 P.M. Auditions are run by our Conductor and Music Director, Douglas March, and are usually attended by a few members of our Board of Directors.

At the audition, be prepared to:

1. Sing a piece of music. You may bring something you have prepared and worked on, or you will be asked to sing something familiar like "Happy Birthday" or "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." This lets us judge your vocal quality.
   

1. Sing notes and sequences of notes as played on the piano. This lets us judge your ear and gauge your vocal range.
   

1. Read a piece of music that is given to you at the audition (sight sing). This lets us judge your sight-singing ability. (Note that sight-singing ability is NOT required for membership in the chorus, but it can't hurt.) Although sight-singing ability is useful, this portion of the audition only counts for a small percentage of your total "grade."
   
   Your vocal quality and ability to hear and repeat the music are the most important factors in your audition.

Updated 5 January 2010 by Andy Schwartz
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