ChoralEd: Secondary Choral Ensemble Auditions

In secondary music classrooms, ensemble auditions are often inherently part of a program’s organizational structure. Each year, students audition or re-audition for placement in various ensembles. The assessments utilized for these auditions vary among directors based on the musical elements they consider most important.

The following are a few suggested assessments that directors may want to consider implementing during their ensemble auditions. While these assessments can be helpful in the decision making process, it is important to keep in mind that students have differing musical backgrounds and experiences. For this reason, emphasis should not be placed on one sole assessment. Instead, try to incorporate multiple assessments to more clearly evaluate the complete musician.

Assessment 1: Performance Ability

Invite the student to perform a prepared or unprepared work. This could be a traditional vocal solo, selected measures from their current ensemble music, or a familiar song such as the “Star Spangled Banner” or “Happy Birthday.” During the performance, the director should evaluate pitch accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, tone quality, and intonation. It is also beneficial to evaluate a singer’s ability to respond to feedback by providing the student with some corrective comments.

Assessment 2: Musical Skills

A student’s ability to sight-read can be an important element to assess during an audition, especially when that ensemble will be required to sight-read at contest. However, a student’s listening ability is arguably equally important and can be assessed through tonal memory exercises (playing a series of three to five note patterns that the student sings back).

Assessment 3: Ensemble Cohesiveness

A singer’s ability to vocally blend with others is an important assessment that can have a significant impact on the overall sound of an ensemble. Methods for assessing ensemble cohesion range from small group evaluations to finalizing the roster through the voice matching process (Episode 43).

Assessment 4: Nonmusical Elements

In addition to musical elements, the director should carefully evaluate nonmusical qualities. In my opinion, these elements are often more important in the decision-making process than musical ability. Nonmusical elements include,

1. Dependability
2. Academic Eligibility/Grades
3. Behavior
4. Attitude
5. Self-motivation

To watch ChoralEd, Episode 41 on YouTube click HERE.