The UPJ Music Department is committed to offering students a fulfilling choral experience. An exciting year is planned for the Concert Choir.
The audition for the choral ensembles at Pitt-Johnstown is simple and painless. Auditions will take roughly ten minutes and will consist of the following:
Vocalizing to check range: Simple ascending and descending patterns will be sung to find the upper and lower limits of the signer's vocal range and to see how well the voice transitions through registration changes
Sing the first verse to Amazing Grace: Sheet music for the song can be found with the audition sign up sheet. Singer will be asked to sing the main melody. Singers may also be asked to sing the song multiple times in different keys.
Pitch-Matching: Singers will be played a number of four-note patterns and will be asked to sing them back to director.
Sight-Reading: Not everyone reads music (nor is it a pre-requisite to gaining entrance to the choirs) but it is a useful skill for the director to know about. Singer will be asked to read a small piece of music, doing their best not to stop. Director is more concerned about what singer is doing correctly during this part of the audition as compared to counting mistakes
Auditions for the fall term will take place on the following days:
OPEN HOUSE: Wednesday, August 28 at 4:30pm in 240 Biddle Hall
AUDITIONS: Thursday, August 29 from 2:00pm-5:00pm
AUDITIONS: Friday, August 30 from 11am-1pm and 1:30-3pm
BOTH NEW AND RETURNING STUDENTS must fill out the information form. In the fall term BOTH NEW AND RETURNING STUDENTS need to sign up for a vocal check. The links are below.
UPJ Choral Ensembles Audition Form and Amazing Grace pdf
Auditions will be held in 233A Biddle Hall (Prof. Webb's office). Additional questions about the audition/vocal check process can be emailed to Prof. Webb at jeffwebb@pitt.edu