About NC Honors Chorus
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Every year, the North Carolina Honors Chorus (NCHC) is held in November and performs at the North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA) Conference. This elite middle school chorus provides an opportunity for the very best singers from across the state to come together and work with a nationally acclaimed choral conductor.
NCHC auditions are held in three regions across the state: East, Central, and West. Typically, over 1,000 students audition for a 200 member choir. At the audition, students must sing their voice part of the selected audition piece. Each student will audition in front of a single judge in a closed audition. Each student will also sight-sing a short melodic exercise. Only about the top 15% of auditioned singers will be selected for this prestigious choir. The event is Saturday, November 8 - Sunday, November 9 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Audition Information
To prepare for this audition, students should download and/or bookmark the audition tracks. Each individual voice part has a track that is played on the piano. These single-part tracks feature the voice part played louder than the accompaniment. This is intended to teach students the notes for their voice part. The last track is the accompaniment track which will play during each student’s audition as they sing their part for their judge.
Before the audition, singers should practice singing the audition piece (with the accompaniment track) for as many people as possible and in as many uncomfortable situations as possible. Sing it for parents, friends, neighbors, youth group, summer camp buddies, etc. Singers will be singing this piece in front of the NCHC judge ALONE.
Important Info:
Here is the copy of the rubric that the judges will use to evaluate singers. It's important to be solid in every area.
The 2025 NCHC audition piece is Hallelujah, Amen by Handel.
The 2025 NCHC audition date is Wednesday, October 1 in Buies Creek. Traveling to the audition will count as a field trip, and students will not be marked absent from school. Student audition times TBD.
The audition fee is $25 per student, due on Friday, September 12.
The judges' final NCHC selections will be released on Friday, October 3.
If accepted to NCHC, the participation fee is $40 per student, due to Mrs. Cavanaugh on Monday, October 6. (Cash or check made payable to CAB; then CAB will write a check to NCMEA).
If not accepted to NCHC, there will be more extracurricular singing opportunities for singers throughout the year, such as All-County Chorus and All-State Chorus. Much can be learned from a valuable experience such as the NCHC audition!
If accepted to NCHC, families should book Winston-Salem lodging accommodations ASAP.
***Families booking NCHC lodging should include Sunday evening, as our NCMEA performance will be the next day, Monday, Nov 10.***
NCHC will take place on Saturday, Nov 8 - Sunday, Nov 9 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, NC.
Star/arrow/circle your part's letter at the beginning of each musical system. S = Soprano; A = Alto; T = Tenor; B = Bass
Write in the solfege for every pitch for your vocal part. C = Do.
Write in the counts of the rests so that you know when to re-enter after long rests.
Listen to the practice track for your part and sing through the piece MANY times over MANY days until you can sing your part perfectly with the practice track and without looking at the music.
If you are unsure of how to pronounce a word, listen to recordings and/or ask Mrs. Cavanaugh!
Practice often using the accompaniment track.
Highlight every dynamic marking in a distinctive color. Sing the piece often while paying attention to demonstrating the dynamic markings.
Think about phrasing and where are you going to breathe. Mark your breaths in the music, being sure that you aren't breathing in the middle of a word or musical phrase. Lift after each textual comma.
Once you have learned the audition song, practice singing ALL THE WAY THROUGH the song without stopping, even when you make a mistake. Don't build a habit of stopping. Once you're finished singing, you can go back and practice to fix the errors.
When you have mastered all of this, record a video of yourself singing the piece with the accompaniment track playing in the background and send it to ACavanaugh@wcpss.net. You will be emailed back with positive feedback as well as elements that you can improve.
By Monday, September 8, 2025, students interested in auditioning for NCHC should submit their final video audition to Mrs. Cavanaugh at ACavanaugh@wpcss.net.
On Wednesday, September 10, the highest-performing students to audition via video will be invited to audition in-person for the NCHC judges on October 1.
Performance Recording: Hallelujah, Amen from Judas Maccabeus by G. F. Handel
Sight-Reading
The element that typically "makes or breaks" a successful Honors Chorus audition is the sight-reading. Make sure you are confident in your sight-reading by practicing every day. Spend at least 5 minutes each day sight singing over the summer.
Once school begins in August, we will be practicing sight-reading examples that are more challenging than the audition examples so that you will be more than prepared when you go to audition.
Here are some sight-reading examples to get you started:
Log into your Sight Reading Factory account for practice! If you need help logging in, email ACavanaugh@wcpss.net.