Auditions

To become a member of NYCoS or NYCoS Training Choir you have to do a short informal audition lasting 5-7 minutes maximum. You will be asked to sing a song you have prepared, do some simple ear tests and range tests, and attempt some sightreading. There will be only two people listening to you: Christopher Bell, Artistic Director of NYCoS and the accompanist who will play your song for you.

General Audition Points

Most people find auditions create nerves. Like any exam or job interview you need to be well prepared for an audition. Arrive early and make sure you are not late and flustered.

The first notes that you sing in an audition should not be the first notes you have sung that day. A warm up room is provided at a NYCoS audition where you can spend a few minutes on your own, warming up your voice, singing parts of your song etc. so that you can show your voice off to its best advantage.

Your song

 It is important that the song you choose shows off your voice and its range. A music teacher or singing teacher will be able to advise you.

As a general rule it is not advisable to sing songs from shows (Cats, Les Miserables etc.) as these frequently do not always allow you to display your full vocal potential or range.

We prefer to hear a solo song, but if you have never sung a solo song before don't worry - if you have taken part in a choir performance of a choral piece you can sing that.

We prefer to hear a song with piano accompaniment rather than an unaccompanied song.

Make sure you have rehearsed your song or piece with the piano accompaniment, that you know what the introduction sounds like and when you start to sing.

A good impression is always given if you memorise your song, though this is not absolutely crucial.

When we ask you to sing a piece of music that you haven't seen before, it gives us an indication of how much experience you have in tackling different pieces of music, how well you do it, and therefore how quickly you will be able to learn the music we sing in the choir. Click on the thumbnails above to see examples of the sight-reading tests used in the past. The exercises are graded from 1-4, from a simple tune, basically moving in step, through to more difficult with a few jumps and accidentals. You should know what key it is in, how many beats in the bar, the names of individual notes etc.

Sight singing abilities will be assessed and graded, and during the summer course a sight-singing class will be offered to those requiring some work in this area so don't worry if this is an area of which you are unsure.

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