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Soloist auditions (2023 Autumn)

Sat, 11 Nov

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Emmanuel College

If you'd like to audition for a solo, duet, trio or other small ensemble in our 2023 Autumn concerts, you'll need to sign up for and attend these auditions. Further details on how they will work are on the Forum. Please make sure your song choice fits with a Christmassy-theme.

Soloist auditions (2023 Autumn)
Soloist auditions (2023 Autumn)

Time & Location

11 Nov 2023, 11:30 – 12:30

Emmanuel College, Consett Rd, Gateshead NE11 0AN, UK

About the event

In order to audition, you'll need to prepare a song. You have free choice of what you sing, and we'll consider songs in any style or genre. (Remember that our concerts are intended to be family-friendly, so we won't include songs that include swearing, and also we wouldn't include songs that have lyrics or sentiments that don't fit our Inclusion Policy). 

Your performance at the auditions will need to be "concert-ready" - it should not be a "work in progress". Songs should be performed from memory, and we're looking at the whole performance, including body language, facial expressions etc, not just the singing. You'll receive applause at the end of your audition - please respond to this as you would in a concert.

You can audition to piano accompaniment, or a backing track. You'll need to provide a copy of your accompaniment or track by no later than 1 week prior to the auditions (either by handing it to Toni at a session, or by emailing it to admin@newhorizonchoir.co.uk). It is your responsibility to make sure that your track or sheet music matches what you're intending to sing (although if you have sheet music that needs to be transposed into a different key, you don't need to do the transposition yourself - you just need to let Tim know what key you would like it in). If you're using a backing track, it needs to be of good quality - commercially available backing tracks can vary in quality, and we want to make sure that everything included in our concerts is at broadly the same standard. Backing tracks must be provided as stand-alone files (MP3, WAV etc) - not links to streaming platforms such as Spotify or YouTube. If you are using piano accompaniment, sadly there won't be time for you to rehearse with Tim beforehand, but you can give him an indication of the starting tempo. From that point on, you should sing the song however you choose to sing it, and Tim will follow your lead.

There are three kinds of performance you can audition: a stand-alone solo, a duet/trio/small ensemble, or occasionally, a solo part within a choir song (when we include one).   You can audition a maximum of two different kinds of performance - so it's OK to audition for a stand-alone solo AND a solo part in a choir song, or a stand-alone solo AND a duet, but not two stand-alone solos.

You will be singing into a microphone for your audition. It will be in a stand, but if you prefer to have it hand-held, that's fine - just say when you come into the audition room. If you haven't sung into a microphone before, we recommend getting really quite close to it (no further than 6 inches away), staying this close to it whilst you're singing - but otherwise, just ignore it!

All auditions will be filmed, for two reasons. Firstly, this helps us to review the performances afterwards, during our decision-making process. Secondly, the video of your audition will be shared with you, and if you choose to watch it, this can be helpful in developing your performance. Your audition video will not be shared with anyone except for us (Tim and Toni), and you (although you can share it with others if you choose).

You do not need to "dress up" for auditions - wear whatever you feel comfortable in. We're auditioning your performance, not your outfit!

It is very important that everyone in the choir knows that there is no competition between singers for solo spots - we will include every performance that reaches the standard we are looking for. Our criteria for a successful audition are below:

  • The performance is engaging to watch and to listen to, and in keeping with the character of the song
  • There is a high degree of accuracy (not necessarily completely flawless, but pretty close)
  • If there are mistakes, they are "covered" well (in other words, the performer recovers from them quickly and professionally, without drawing attention to them)
  • All notes are well tuned
  • The performer makes us (as audience members) feel comfortable that they know what they are doing

As an overall view, we should be able to imagine the solo performance taking place within a concert, alongside the songs that the choir are singing, without it feeling like there is a dip in quality. That's our main criteria, and the details above are components of that. Any audition that reaches this standard will be included.

We aim to make decisions on soloists reasonably quickly, and will let each auditionee know their results as soon as possible afterwards - we'd aim for less than a week. All auditionees will receive a link to the video of their audition, and some brief notes from Tim about how they did. If anyone auditions and is not offered a slot in the concert, they will be given constructive feedback on how to improve for the future.

If you have questions about the audition process that haven't been covered above, please get in touch and we'll be happy to answer them, and to update this information.

Tickets

  • Stand-alone solo

    Use this "ticket" if you are auditioning a stand-alone solo - this means a song that features just you, with either piano accompaniment or backing track

    £0.00
    Sale ended
  • Duet/trio/small ensemble

    Use this "ticket" if you are auditioning a song with multiple singers. Each singer needs to sign up themselves, using this "ticket" option. We can accommodate a maximum of 7 singers in an ensemble.

    £0.00
    Sale ended

Total

£0.00

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