We have auditions in both the fall and the spring semester - our auditions for this semester are being held very soon, during the week of 2/5! The audition protocol below outlines a normal semester's audition process in person.
During your audition, we will go over a few vocal exercises with you and finish with a solo of your choice. For your solo, we are looking for the equivalent of a verse and a chorus. A summary of the audition procedure is provided below to give you a rough idea of what to expect. We will guide you along the way—no need to remember the details! Once your audition is over, expect to hear back from us via email within approximately 24–48 hours. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us!
Audition Procedure
Scales We will warm you up with some scales and figure out your vocal range.
Vocal swells We will ask you to do a few vocal swells for us, to see how well you are able to control your volume. To do a vocal swell, start as softly as possible on an “ooo”, then gradually transition to an “ahh” at full volume, before gradually pulling back to a soft “ooo”, all in one breath. Don’t worry, we will give you a demonstration beforehand!
Ear training We will play a few chords for you and ask you to identify the bottom, middle or top note each time.
Sight reading We will give you a short passage to sight read. If you are comfortable with reading music then we will give you as much time as you need and ask you to sing the whole passage once you are ready. The starting note will be played for you as many times as you ask. If you are not as comfortable with reading music then we will play the passage for you as many times as you ask, and help you to learn it. Once you are ready, we will ask you to sing the whole passage by yourself.
Solo Finally, we will ask you to perform a verse and chorus (or equivalent) of your prepared song for us. This is your opportunity to show us your musicality! You are welcome to read off lyrics or ask us for a starting note.