Friday, June 22, 2012

LOCATION...

Auditions take place in Elroy's office - room 213A main music building. See you soon!

U of M Choral Ensembles

The University of Manitoba choral ensembles are open by audition to all interested singers - Faculty of Music students, general U of M students*, and community members*.

University Singers - a 30-40 voice mixed Chamber Choir (note the extra audition requirement of the test piece).
Rehearsals: T/Th 1:00-3:15
Director: Dr. Elroy Friesen

Women's Chorus - a 50-60 voice SSAA choir.
Rehearsals: M/W 2:30-4:00
Director: Dr. Elroy Friesen

Cantata Singers - a small vocal ensemble, typically made up of 4th year performance majors and graduate students. This ensemble forms the podium choir for the graduate choral students.
Rehearsals: M 4:15-6:15
Directors: Dr. Elroy Friesen and Graduate Conducting Students

Concert Choir - a 75 voice mixed choir.
Rehearsals: W 5:30-7:30
Directors: Ed and Millie Hildebrand
Note - Non-Faculty of Music singers auditioning for Concert Choir sign-up through the UMCC website here. All Faculty of Music students auditioning for Concert Choir follow the steps below.

*Non-Faculty of Music choristers pay a nominal fee for the year.

Signing Up for Auditions

This is a two-step process.

1. Sign-up for an audition time here. If the link does not work at first, try again. There have been a few glitches with this that usually self-correct with a simple hit of the "refresh" button. Once you have entered your name, you can leave the site - it will save your entry automatically.

2. Fill-out the personal information form here (this needs to be completed BEFORE the audition).

What to Expect in the Audition

These choir auditions are very friendly and will include a chat about the auditionee’s musical/choral background and interests..  Here is what is involved:

Range test: You will be asked to sing some simple patterns, high and low, to determine your range.

Solo: Own choice. If you bring in sheet music, I will play for you. If you are not sure what to sing, you may choose something simple like "Amazing Grace," "O Canada," or "Happy Birthday".

Sight-singing: You will be asked to sight-sing your part in a piece of choral music.  I will support from the piano as needed.

Test-piece (University Singers ONLY): If you are auditioning for the University Singers, you will need to prepare your voice-part of the test piece from Brahm's motet "Schaffe in mir, Gott" measures 26-80.  Note: choose the part that is best suited to your voice in choir rather than what you might be singing in studio (i.e. a dramatic soprano might be happier as an alto in choir).  Download a copy of the piece here.