Voice Testing and Audition Information
Membership in the Kent Chorus, Women's Chorus, and Men's Chorus only require a simple voice test. Membership in the KSU Chorale and the Ars Nova Singers is competitive and requires an audition. (See details for voice testing and auditions below.)
Who: Any student, regardless of major, may be considered for any KSU ensembles.
When: Voice testing and auditions are held each semester during the first three days of classes. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the Choral Program bulletin board (across from the music offices), one week prior to the beginning of classes.
Where: Auditions are held in the Choral Music Program office, room E-111.
How: The voice testing and audition are relatively simple and consists of three parts: vocalizing, pitch retention test, and simple sight reading. It is not necessary for a student to bring a prepared song.
Vocalizing: Students will be asked to sing a five-tone scale using various vowels. The director will be listening for range, voice and vowel quality, vocal agility, and pitch accuracy. Auditionees may be asked to sing other simple vocalises.
Pitch retention: Three or four isolated pitches will be played on the piano, and the auditionee will be asked to sing back what they hear. The director will be listening for pitch accuracy and the ease with which the auditionee reproduces the pitches. The exercises begin simply (diatonic) and become increasingly more difficult (non-diatonic).
Sight reading: Auditionees will be asked to sight sing a simple melody unaccompanied. The difficulty level of the melodies is about that of a church hymn or folk song. Auditionees may use their preferred method of sight singing: neutral syllable (la, la, la) solfege (do, re, mi) numbers (1, 2, 3), etc. The director will be listening for the accuracy of pitches and rhythms and a demonstration of the auditionee's general musical literacy.