Voice test information

What happens at the voice test?

At the voice test, you will sing to our musical director David Temple and principal accompanist Peter Jaekel.

First you will be asked to sing a few scales to give an indication of your vocal range.

Next, we need to hear you sing a melody, so you can choose either Once in Royal David’s City or Jerusalem - whichever you prefer.  Music will be provided in advance.

You will then be asked to sing a choral part – this will be a short section from some four-part choral music (currently Cum Sancto Spiritu, from Vivaldi’s Gloria).  Music will be provided in advance and in the test you will be asked to sing your line of the piece with piano accompaniment, i.e. if you are a tenor, you will sing the tenor line.

Then you will be asked to demonstrate your aural ability – our pianist will play a short musical phrase and you will be asked to sing it back.

General points

Warm up your voice before your voice test, and please remember that you will be assessed on this audition. David does not usually hear people again, so if you are not feeling well it is better to postpone the audition rather than soldier on.

You will have a week or two to prepare the music before your voice test. We will arrange a convenient date with you, usually on a Friday evening before a rehearsal. 

There is no sight-reading test during the audition; however, you will be expected to read music well enough to learn your part of the Vivaldi piece. If your sight-reading is a bit rusty, you would be expected to improve your ability as a choir member. Help with this is given through occasional musicianship classes, but it is each singer’s responsibility to learn to read music reasonably fluently or to brush up their skills.

Prospective singers need a voice which is strong, pleasant, in tune and has a range of at least two octaves, e.g. as a rough guide, sopranos low B to high B, altos low F to high F, tenors as sopranos but an octave lower, basses as altos but an octave lower.

You should be responsive to the conductor’s instructions and gestures. It is also important, with a choir like CEFC, that you are open to a wide variety of styles of music and that you commit yourself to the regular activities of the choir during a typical CEFC season.

When will I know the outcome of my audition?

The decision about your test is usually made at the time of the audition. You will be asked to leave the hall for a few minutes while David and Peter assess your audition. 

Sopranos and altos may be placed on a waiting list for auditions if those sections are full. We will contact you when a space becomes available and will invite you to take your voice test at a mutually convenient time.