College Auditions

College Choir Auditions 101

Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

So, you’re off to college, and you want to keep singing in choir.. 👏 Or, perhaps you are a vocal music major or minor, and singing in choir is a part of your training—but you still have to audition before classes begin. Either way, the question is : How should a singer prepare for a collegiate choral audition? Of course, you may find an explanation of the process on the college website. If not, try to contact the choir director for more information.

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for college choir auditions and beyond!

  1. What excites you about singing in a choir? Be ready for a short chat/interview including why you want to continue singing in choir, how long you been singing in choirs, what instruments you play, etc. They enjoy getting to know the person not just the voice. Even if you are not planning to major or minor in music, write a high school résumé that focuses on music and a repertoire list to make answering these questions even easier. Bring it to the audition. The director may ask you for the document, and you will be ready!
  2. Have a few, short solos you can sing from memory: If you were in choir during high school, you probably learned a few songs you can sing from memory. In general, choose songs that are moderately slow to moderately fast and about two minutes long with a short introduction featuring a well-developed singing range. Also, be sure that there are enough long notes and longer phrases to demonstrate more advanced singing technique. You do not need to sing a really difficult song for a choral audition, either. Good examples include folk songs like Danny Boy, Shenandoah, or the melody of a song you sang in choir instead of the harmony. Just be sure that you own a clear PDF and/or printed sheet music plus the piano track. Usually the director or pianist will play with you for a live audition, so they will need the PDF. When you have the track, you can practice well, and you may need it for the audition!
  3. Be ready to vocalize in the audition: Though not every audition will include vocal warm-ups, if you expect it, then you won’t be caught by surprise! Warm-ups give the director a chance to listen to your tone quality and test your singing range. Plus, they like observing your technique when singing music you did not prepare for the audition.
  4. Pitch matching, too!: Besides a few warm-ups, some auditions feature a pitch matching component, so singers can demonstrate basic aural skills. Typically, the director will play a series of three to five pitches—though three is more likely—for you to repeat a cappella on a neutral syllable like [da] or [lu]. Again, this is a wonderful opportunity for the director to hear you sing music you did not prepare, watch your singing technique, and listen for good intonation and healthy tone quality. In general, singing three to five notes in a row accurately and in tune with no more than three times to hear the pattern is an excellent goal for any singer.
  5. And now…sight singing!: For many high school singers, this is the most anxiety inducing part of an audition. Be ready to demonstrate your skills in two ways: 1) 30-second practice of eight measures, then sing again for the “final reading;” 2) A short SATB song with the director playing all the parts simultaneously while you sing the part you usually sing in choir. For example, if you usually sing soprano, you may be asked to sing the selection twice to demonstrate both the soprano and alto parts.

Finally, below is a list of what several of my students have had to sing for a college choral audition. Your audition may include a few of these elements, though rarely all because time is limited!:

  • Classical solo or art song in English or a foreign language
  • Excerpt of a choral work assigned 3-6 weeks before the audition
  • Excerpt of choral work from previous choral experience
  • “America” (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) in several keys a cappella or accompanied
  • Pre-1970 and/or post 1970 music theatre selection
  • Singing range exercises (possibly Soprano/Alto: E3 – E6; Tenor/Bass: E2 – E5)
  • Pitch Matching/Echo – examples played or sung up to three times before repeating using a neutral syllable
  • Rhythm Matching/Echo – examples tapped, clapped, or spoken up to three times before repeating
  • Eight-measure and/or harmonic sight singing

Try to think of what you would add if you were a choir director, too. TOI, TOI, TOI!!

Video

Vai, vai, vai to the tone

Hello Divine Singers!

Within 20 seconds of viewing this video, you will know why Salvatore Fisichella is one of the most admired tenors of our time. Watch and listen to him help Andrew Owens, an American tenor, improve his tone when singing “Che gelida manina” from Puccini’s La Bohème. May we all learn to feel and demonstrate as much three dimensional tone placement as he can! Search their names and Classic FM to see the video with a few subtitled translations of Fisichella’s instruction.

(Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival, 2013)

What did you do in high school?

Crafting a short but thorough high school resumé should be a part of what you do to prepare for your college applications and auditions. Some colleges and universities have specific portions of the application labeled for information such as music activities, awards and honors, etc., but others do not. Also, your college applied music instructor may want some information about what you did in high school to know more about your achievements.

Be sure to include information such as private music lessons, all music ensembles, and section leader duties. Include other activities such as debate, language clubs, and volunteer programs. If you were working during high school, you can add that employment history, too. Your college voice teacher will be delighted to know that you were able to keep your GPA up and take private lessons while serving fries and shakes at a local restaurant, for example.

Now, what did you do in high school? Here is an example of a General High School Musician Résumé to get you started. If necessary, you can format the information to one page using columns in a basic word processing document.

Have fun reminding yourself of your accomplishments!

So … what are you singing these days?

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Pexels/Pixabay

Maintaining a comprehensive repertoire list is essential for your record keeping. Also, most universities, voice teachers, and arts organizations require an edited version of what you are singing now and what you have performed. As a high school singer, your general vocal repertoire list should contain the following information:

  1. Name and Voice Classification: If you do not know your voice classification, use the voice part you sang the most in high school. You can leave off any part numbers (tenor 1, bass 2, etc.).
  2. Song Categories: Only use the categories you need such as English, Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish, etc., Classic Music Theatre (pre-1970), Modern Music Theatre (post-1970), Jazz Standards, Major Choral Works, Contemporary-Commercial (including Sacred Songs), and Original Compositions (i.e, self-composed songs).
  3. Title: Your song titles should include the major work’s name when applicable. Use the exact title of the song, but opus numbers are not needed. You can save that information for your detailed list.
  4. Composer: The last name is all that is necessary. For your detailed records, use full names and birth-death dates of the composers.
  5. Semester & Year of Performance: List most recent performances and studies first. You can be more specific about the dates for your detailed list.

Finally, organize your solo selections in a three-ring binder with dividers for each song category, or you can organize your folder by school year. You can decide if you want to put your songs in order of most recently studied to least recent or vice versa. Either way, creating and maintaining the folder will be an excellent opportunity to review what you have accomplished on a regular basis while you add new repertoire.

So … what are you singing these days? Here is an example of a General Vocal Repertoire List to get you started!

 

Video

Toi, Toi, Toi!

You have your perfect outfit, your sheet music is two-sided and legible for the collaborative pianist, and you have practiced your warm-ups with technical concepts applied to your audition music. Now, it’s the big day, but you need a little inspiration. Have a good time with these short videos. I’m sure you can find even more with just a little searching:

One more . . . Enjoy!