Special Choirs Audition Information

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Special Choirs
Audition notes - How to get the most out of the special choir auditions and improve your chances of winning a position in either the Junior or Senior Choir

You will probably feel a bit nervous when you enter the audition room. The good news is that everyone else is likely to have the same feelings as you!! Try to relax. The audition process is not as bad as you think and we will be working hard to make it a positive experience for you and we will help you to sing to the best of your ability.

Charles Levings will audition each of the Year 7 and 8 children who want to audition for the Senior Choir and Sharyn Hay will audition each of the Year 5 and 6 children for the Junior Choir.

We will be auditioning nearly 500 of the best singers in Christchurch schools and will be selecting 200 senior and junior choir members.

If you have been in the one of the special choirs in previous years, you will not necessarily be assured of a place this year. This is because the audition process must be fair to all those auditioning.

The format for the audition will be exactly the same for everyone entering the room. Each person auditioning will be expected to sing ‘God Defend NZ' with piano accompaniment played by the conductor.

In an effort to ensure our marking is consistent, there is a small chance you may have both conductors present. The second conductor will only observe and give feedback to the first conductor and will not be involved in your audition process at all.

Both conductors will use the same assessment rubric for marking - see below.

Each audition will take approximately three minutes and the results of the auditions will be emailed to you and posted to your school on the 21st June 2010.

The audition process - what you can expect at the audition:

Sing: You must sing one complete verse of 'God Defend NZ' in either Maori or English. You should know the words off by heart when you come to the audition. The last two bars of the music will be played as the introduction. The words and the music for this anthem are below.

You may have heard the NZ anthem being sung by a pop star before a special sporting event - some sing it perfectly and others add their own special sound to it and change it slightly. For your audition, you should sing 'God defend NZ' exactly as it is written and as nicely as you can. You will be marked on ACCURACY, INTONATION, VOCAL TONE AND MUSICAL ARTISTRY on the rubric (See below for the rubric and a copy of the music and words of the National Anthem.)

Pitch five notes: You will then be played five single notes. You will be asked to sing each back on ‘La’. See NOTE PITCHING criteria on the rubric.

Sing triad: The conductor will then play three notes together (a major triad) on the piano. He/she will play this a couple of times and will then ask you to sing the top, middle and bottom notes of the chord to ‘la’. You should listen carefully as the challenge is to recognise and sing each note accurately. See TRIAD criteria on the rubric.

Memory test: You will then be played a short tune (a 2 to 4 bar melody) on the piano. The conductor will play the tune twice and then ask you to sing the tune back on ‘la.’ See MEMORY criteria on the rubric .

Sing scale: At the end of the audition, you wll be asked to sing up or down a scale. This will be taught at the audition and the inention is to determine your vocal range – how high you can go or how low you can go!!

Sample memory tests

Below are samples of the memory test that we give at the audition. It’s a good idea to get someone to help you practice with these. Practice makes perfect!!

Marking Rubric that will be used in the auditions:

Choral Audition Rubric

You may earn a maximum of 34 points for your audition

	10 points	9 points	8 points	2 points	1 point	0 points
Intonation These marks will be awarded when you sing the National Anthem (10 marks)	Perfect Intonation - pitch is perfect! Notes are pitched in the centre of the note	Excellent Intonation – pitch is almost perfect Most notes are pitched in the centre of the note with some slight blemishes	Reliable Intonation – pitch is almost accurate Notes are fairly secure but some mistakes in pitching	Insecure Intonation – pitch is accurate most of the time but you are having trouble pitching a few of your notes	Uncertain Intonation – pitch is seldom accurate	Restricted Intonation – pitch is never accurate
	5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point	0 points
Tone This marks will be awarded when you sing: a. Scale b. Song (5 Marks)	Full voice Sings with a full resonant singing voice	Mostly head voice Sings with mostly the head voice	Distinct breaks Sings with distinct breaks between the head and chest voice	Mostly chest voice Sings with mostly the chest voice; there is some evidence of the head voice	Chest voice Sings with the chest voice – there is no evidence of the head voice	Speaking voice Sings with the speaking voice – no singing voice evident
5 points4 points			3 points	2 points	1 point	0 points
Strength (Voice quality) Song (3 marks)			Strong voice	Medium voice	Light voice	Very light voice
5 points4 points			3 points	2 points	1 point	0 points
Accuracy Memory test (3 marks)			Excellent Notes & rhythms are practically perfect	Secure Notes & rhythms are almost always accurate	Insecure Notes & rhythms are sometimes accurate	Uncertain Notes & rhythms are seldom accurate
5 points4 points3 points				1 point	0.5 points	0 points
Pitch This scale will be awarded when you sing the following: a. Note pitches (5 notes – l mark for each) b. Triads (3 chords – 1 mark for each) (8 marks)				Assured Accurate response – the correct pitch is sung	Tentative Fairly accurate – the correct pitch is eventually sung	Inaccurate The wrong pitch is sung

Audition music