The California Choral Directors Association board is pleased to announce auditions for the fourth Junior High All-State Honor Choir (grades 6-9). The honor choir will be part of CCDA State Conference and the High School Honor Choir concerts. We are using an online audition format through opusevent.com, similar to Western Division and National ACDA Honor Choir which will open in early September. Please see below for more information. If you have any questions, please e-mail Amanda Isaac at amanda.isaac4music@gmail.com. We are so excited to be able to offer this wonderful opportunity for your singers!

Conductor: Dr. Rollo Dilworth, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, and Professor at Temple University!

Timeline:

September 1, 2018:  Online auditions open (Go to Opusevent.com, click on Opus Audition, click on California Junior High All-State Honor Choir towards the bottom of the drop down menu)

October 15, 2018:  Auditions close at midnight

November 15, 2018:  Sponsors notified of audition results

November 30, 2018: Fees to be paid online at the Junior High/9th Grade Honor Choir page.

December 2018: Music sent to singers upon receipt of required materials via email and payment

March 14, 2019: Honor Choir Registration, Downtown San Jose, California (specific location TBA)

March 14-16, 2019: Honor Choir rehearsals

March 16, 2019: Junior High and Men’s Honor Choir Concert (11:00am) St. Joseph Cathedral, San Jose, CA

Eligibility

All applicants must sing under the direction of and be recommended by a current member of the American Choral Directors Association or Southern California Vocal Association, who is herein referred to as Sponsor.

Financial Commitment

Audition fee: $15 (non-refundable)

Participation fee: $210 (non-refundable) includes expenses for Honor Choir conductor, accompanist, rehearsal and performance facilities, music packet and rehearsal voice files, concert program, office materials, digital video and audio downloads of the concert, and miscellaneous costs. This fee does not include housing, meals, or travel.

Housing

The designated Honor Choir hotels will be listed in the acceptance packet. Students are required to provide and pay for their own housing.

Chaperones

Each Honor Choir participant must be accompanied to San Jose by a parent or other designated chaperone, age 21 or older. It is permissible for one chaperone to be responsible for more than one singer.

Meals

Singers and chaperones are responsible for all meal costs in San Jose.

Travel

Honor Choir participants and chaperones will arrange and pay for their own travel.

Rehearsals (subject to change)

Thursday

10:00-11:45am Check in (location TBA) Signs will direct you to the registration tables. *Please note: Parking is very limited in downtown San Jose.

12:30-4:30pm First Rehearsal

4:30-5:00pm Short stretch break

5:00-6:30pm Rehearsal

Dismissed at 6:30pm Eat a good dinner and get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow!

Friday

9:00am-12:00pm Rehearsal

12:00-2:00pm Lunch

2:00-4:00pm Rehearsal

4:00-6:00pm Dinner

6:00-8:00pm Honor Choir Exchange Concert (St. Joseph’s Cathedral) SUBJECT TO CHANGE

9:00-10:00pm Evening concert

Saturday

8:45am Meet at rehearsal location and we will walk to the Cathedral for sound check.

We will sit on the risers after sound check and start the concert at 11:00am.

11:00am Honor Choir Concert at St. Joseph’s Cathedral (Junior High and Men’s)

Concert

The Junior High and High School Men’s Honor Choirs Concert will be presented in the beautiful St. Joseph’s Cathedral on Saturday, March 16th at 11:00am. The Cathedral is located at 80 S Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Concert Tickets are $10 and will be made available ONLINE one week before the concert. If you plan on attending both concerts (Junior High/Men’s AND Women’s/Mixed), it will require TWO tickets, one to each concert. Tickets are free for conference attendees but you must reserve your tickets in advance.

Online Application Information

Up to 200 singers for each Honor Choir will be selected by audition. All applicants must be sponsored by a current member of ACDA and may be members of school, church, and/or community choral organizations.

Required Vocal Audition Elements

Element 1

Upper Range Vocalization (determine your highest pitch and sing an acapella ascending major scale up to that pitch from low “do” to high “do” and stop). Either solfege or a neutral syllable is acceptable.

Element 2

Lower Range Vocalization (determine your lowest pitch and sing an acapella descending major scale down to that pitch from high “do” to low “do” and stop). Either solfege or a neutral syllable is acceptable.

Notes on scales (Elements 1 & 2): ***NEW THIS YEAR***

-Must be done on quarter notes with a tempo of 90-100 bpm

-each scale must be done in one breath

-each scale should be to the student’s highest or lowest BEST note, not possible note.

-each scale must be recorded on its own track

-when completing the online application, you will be asked to select your starting pitch for each scale separately.

Element 3

“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (America): Sing the first verse unaccompanied beginning on the pitch designated according to your chosen voice part.

Soprano: G

Alto: Db

Tenor: G

Baritone: E

Bass: C

Notes on “My Country Tis of Thee”: ***NEW THIS YEAR***

Tempo: 80-90 bpm

Phrasing matters – breathe in appropriate places (not in the middle of a word)

Embellishments, liberties with pitch/rhythm, etc. are NOT allowed

Diction can make the difference – enunciate clearly.

Helpful hints for recording:

-Files must be in mp3 format in order to upload to Opusevent
(if the format is incorrect it can lead to the audition being disqualified)

-Please make sure that all effects are OFF when you are recording. Garage Band can default to a reverb effect when you are recording voices, which can distort the audition recording and disqualify it.

-LISTEN to your uploads after you put them on Opusevent to make sure you have the right tracks uploaded in the right place.

-No talking at all on the recording

-Accompaniment of any kind on the recordings will disqualify the audition (starting pitches are accepted)

-Tempos outside the stated range will disqualify the audition

We are looking forward to having your singers audition!

Amanda Isaac

Junior High (6-9) All-State Chairperson

Director of Choirs, Bakersfield High School, Bakersfield, CA