Your Audition

What to prepare

At your audition you will be asked to:

sing a short acapella song of your choice (a portion of a song is fine). There is no accompanist at the audition.
sight-sing a short, simple musical passage (note: the ability to read music is valued in this ensemble, but not required. This part of the audition will help us to determine where you are in your growth as a musician).
complete an aural skills evaluation (echo back short melodies).
sing some simple scales and vocal exercises to help determine vocal range.
complete a short music theory sheet (note naming, basic terminology, key signatures, etc). A poor result on the theory portion will not exclude you from participation in the choir; it is merely in place to help us to determine where you are in your growth as a musician. The youth choir contains singers with a wide variety of experience. On top of vocal potential, the conductor of the youth choir looks for many things in your audition including a positive attitude, a flexible and open learning style, and a willingness to grow and develop as a musician.
prepare and sing Jesu, meine Freude on your voice part. You may sing it in English or German, and you can audition on more than one voice part if you choose. Click to view score
BONUS (totally optional): prepare If Ye Love Me on your voice part. Click to view score

Before you audition, have a friend or family member listen to your song and give you some feedback.
For your solo song, choose something that showcases your vocal technique, tone, and range. A folksong or classical piece with a good melody is always a great choice. Pop can be OK for an audition, but be very careful that your choice shows off your skill as a singer. Too many repeated notes/a static melody or a limited/very low range are things to avoid.
Re: Jesu, if you are not a strong music reader, look on YouTube/Google for part-specific recordings and you will be able to find a recording of JUST the soprano part, or JUST the tenor part, etc.

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