Auditions will be held for the following individuals:

• ALL NEW Students to SMTD Choirs

• Those interested in Chamber Choir (full year commitment, no opera waivers for 1st semester)

• Those interested in Orpheus Singers

The ONLY people EXEMPT from an audition are:

• RETURNING singers who are ONLY interested in University Choir. 

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All students auditioning must complete the registration form. 

This is separate from registering for the course and both are required. 

Once you complete the registration form, it takes roughly 24-48 hours to PROCESS your information; 

once your form has been processed, you will be able to choose an audition time. 

Choir Audition Registration Form - ALL New Students, CC Auditions, OS Auditions 

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You will be asked to sing:

• One art song OR choral-friendly piece of your choosing that shows your best ensemble voice. When possible, we'd like the repertoire to focus on art songs rather than arias. (Please bring a copy of your music for the provided accompanist)

• Demonstration of vocal range and tone through choral drills of the Conductor's Choice (for example: ascending or descending triads 1-3-5-3-1, ascending or descending half-steps do-di-re-ri, etc.)

• Sight Reading as provided

• If interested in participating in Chamber Choir and the New York Philharmonic performances in January, you will also be asked to sing THIS EXCERPT from Adès' America - A Prophecy.  Singers should prepare their desired voice part. An accompanist will be provided to play only the accompaniment. 

In case of emergency or illness, please email Large Ensembles Production Manager,
Kate Johnson at kjkate@umich.edu to reschedule. 

Submission of a recorded audition may be requested for the following reasons: 

• • • • Military service conflict

      • Extenuating Circumstances with faculty approval

If you fall into one of those categories, please make your request to Kate Johnson, the Large Ensembles Production Manager no later than August 1st with any necessary documentation (excluding emergency situations).  See the bottom of this page for submission instructions. 

RECORD YOURSELF SINGING:

• One art song OR choral-friendly piece of your choosing that demonstrates your best ensemble voice.

• Vocal range demonstration (please sing 1-3-5-3-1, ascending/descending, to your highest and lowest performance pitches)

• If interested in participating in the New York Philharmonic performance in January, please also sing the provided excerpt for your voice type linked above. You will need to be present for at least one of the callback days to be considered for the New York Philharmonic performance. 

SUBMITTING YOUR RECORDING:

• Submitting a recorded audition, and the audio quality of that recording, may affect your placement results.

• You must complete the Registration Form linked above on this page. 

• You must complete the Recorded Audition Information Survey, stating your reason for missing the auditions (please specify if you are pursuing a Fall Term Waiver or will be Study Abroad). 

• You will be assigned an Audition Timeslot through Asimut as if you were auditioning in person - this is for our record keeping purposes.

• The audition must be 1 video with each segment recorded in one single take in the same acoustic environment, although the segments may be cut together for efficiency (for instance, feel free to record your triads a capella, stop the recording, and resume when your accompanist has arrived). 

• Your piece should be accompanied if reasonably possible.

• Submit your single file via Google Drive no later than 48 hours prior to your instrument’s scheduled audition date - this gives us time to reach out to you should there be an issue with the recording. (if you have issues with this link, please make sure that you are logged into your browser under your U-M Google account, rather than a personal one) 

• • The following video formats are accepted: MPEG, MPG, MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV 

  • Please name the file using the following format:

Last Name First Name - Voice Part [ex: Johnson Kate - Soprano.MOV]

HELPFUL TIPS:

• If possible, film in a neutral, quiet environment.  Unusual spaces are acceptable - if the best place to film is a laundry room or a bathroom, that’s okay! 

• Consider the acoustics of the room you are planning to record in. While experimenting with your recording location, realize that the best place to get a clear quality recording may not be in a typically resonant space where you enjoy performing. It’s a bit counter-intuitive to our performing and listening habits for live music. 

• If possible, test the EQ settings on all recording equipment to eliminate extraneous noises. A quick summary of the three main parameters of an EQ: 

Gain: How much you are boosting or cutting a certain frequency. 

Frequency: What part of the sound (highs, lows, or mids) you want to make changes to. 

Q: Stands for Quality. How much of the surrounding frequencies you want to affect. 

• Practice! Record “test” versions, listen, and adjust the audio settings to get the best mix for your voice in your space. 

• Your audio recording device - microphone, laptop or phone - should be omni-directional. In general, a newer phone/laptop is going to be of a better quality, but there is a huge range of technology out there. Use the best of what is available to you. It’s okay if that is just your phone.

• If filming from a phone or tablet, be sure to film horizontally, not vertically (landscape, not portrait). 

• Your camera should record from a fixed position as if the adjudicators were seated in front of you.