Audition for the Grinnell Singers, Fall 2023
The Grinnell Singers are a group of Grinnell College students who are highly diverse in terms of their backgrounds, interests, and talents, but who are united in their love of singing and their dedication to the choral art. The College is now scheduling auditions.
Audition Schedule
New students: It’s helpful if you schedule your auditions on Monday and Tuesday to save room for returning students in the later sessions.
Individual Auditions
- Monday, Aug. 21, 3–5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 22, 4–5 p.m. and 7–8 p.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 23 7–8 p.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 24 4–6 p.m. and 7:30–9 p.m.
Callback Auditions
Saturday, Aug. 26
- 10–11 a.m. sopranos
- 11–12 noon altos
- 1–2 p.m. basses
- 2–3 p.m. tenors
Audition Process: Instructions from the Director, John Rommereim
During the 10-minute audition, we’ll devote some time to getting to know each other a little, and then we’ll do the following:
- I'll ask you to sing back short melodies played on the piano (testing tonal memory). This should work fine online.
- We'll test your vocal range using a simple pattern, such as 1–5–4–3–2–1 on “ee” and “ah” vowels. The pattern will move up and down by half steps. This could be a little trickier online because I’m unable to accompany you as usual. I’ll play the pattern, then you’ll sing afterward; we won’t try to sing and play together.
- You will sing “Hands” by Jocelyn Hagen (PDF, login required), starting at measure 16. To learn your part, you can use one of these four YouTube videos: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. (Each of the videos has one of the voice parts highlighted). Please note: If you don’t have much experience reading vocal music and you find this exercise to be too challenging, please do still audition. Sight-reading skills are very helpful for the ensemble, but they aren’t all-important. If you have a good ear (which we test in the first two segments of the audition), you can still be a strong contributor to the ensemble.
- Optionally, you may sing a prepared piece up to three minutes long. It is helpful to hear how you sound when you're singing a piece that you know well. Any style is acceptable — whatever allows you to show your musical and vocal personality. Again, this is optional; it is perfectly OK if you don't have a prepared piece.