The Audition

*gulp*

"What have I gotten myself into?"

That was pretty much my thought this evening at approximately 6:45 p.m. A few months ago, a casual friend told me about the Dublin Singers, a local community chorus. She had recently auditioned and was accepted and having a good time.

They needed altos.

I sing alto.

I haven't been part of a choir/chorus in a few years since I stopped attending church regularly. I've missed singing. (Church, not so much, but that's a post for another day.)

The tricky part was that in order to join, you have to audition. As in, bring a piece of music and sing in front of the director and be judged on the quality of your voice and whether you can sing well enough to be part of the group. I attended an open rehearsal last week and had so much fun that I scheduled an audition for tonight.

I come from a family with a strong performing arts background, including several (going back a few generations as well) who have degrees in the performing arts. Everyone in my immediate family except my dad has a background in band or theatre or choir or some combination thereof. Many of us have carried this from childhood into adulthood. I am no exception, with band and various vocal experiences in my background (especially church choirs), and a little bit of theatre.

Auditions, however, have always struck a palpable fear into my heart. As a result, the last time I appeared on stage in a theatrical production was in 7th grade. My theatre experience since then has been in the pit orchestra for a couple musicals because no audition is required. Only one time did I ever have to audition for a choral group, and that was a taped audition for a high school music festival. The last audition of any kind I did was in college when I was in university band, and that was only to determine my placement within the horn section.

Why the big deal? I'm not 100% certain but I suspect the fact that I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to things I enjoy and that I care way too much about what other people think are the primary culprits. I wish I could let such things just roll off my back, but I can't. Not yet anyway.

So. Tonight. I could have auditioned on the spot last week but I had actually forgotten about the audition part and didn't have anything prepared. I went home, took a few looks through my music collection, and last night finally decided on a fairly simple song I knew from my church choir days. It was an easy song in terms of rhythm, but focused a bit on the lower register so I could show my alto range. There were a few tricky intervals, including a full octave interval at a few places. Since the founder/director of the chorus is the Director of Religious Education at a local Catholic Church, I also knew that she would know the song, which would make it easier on me in a lot of ways.

I knew I had nothing to be nervous about, that my voice was good enough and that she needed altos. Still. I was nervous. I ended up having to work late and traffic was bad, so I was running late. That helped me stay calmer than I might have been had I actually had time to think about it today.

The audition began with some warmups where she tested my range and my pitch. Then I sang the song itself. Just the 1st 2 verses and into the refrain. Since the song had harmony written in it, she then had me sing those same verses in the alto harmony while she sang the melody line. I was nervous, and my voice shook a bit when I sang alone (I joked that I only have a vibrato when I'm nervous) but I was more relaxed and sang more strongly when we sang together.

As a side note, I knew about how high I could go (I said D on my application, I actually hit an E) but didn't know how low I could go. I actually hit a full octave below Middle C, which is pretty good even for a lower-toned alto and I'm a higher toned one.

In the end, she complimented various aspects of my singing, especially my range, and had nothing negative to say.

And I'm in. :-)