Come Sing With Us
Auditions | How to Be a Chorus Member
If you love to listen to good choral music, we hope you will come hear us sing. But there's one important thing you ought to know: Singing
good choral music is even more rewarding.
Making music is one of the most pleasurable things anyone can do. If you're accomplished on the piano, violin, or any other instrument, you know that.
But many of us, though we may have played, or dabbled with, an instrument at one time, do not play it well, and the pleasure derived from trying
is limited. Even most of those of us who sing do not do it well enough, when we sing alone, to make it a pleasure for ourselves or anyone else.
But everything changes when you sing as part of a chorus. The quality of your own voice is of little importance. What counts is your ability to blend your
voice with many others. And the pleasure in doing so with an outstanding musical composition can be exquisite. That's why there are so many hundreds of choruses
and glee clubs, not to mention the thousands of church choirs, across the land.
Once you have experienced the pleasure of choral singing, you are likely to stick around for a long time. Some members of the Great Neck Choral Society have
been around for 30 or 40 years, a few even longer. But we do want new members, young or old. We have
never put a limit on the size of the chorus, and it has varied from as few as 40 in the early days to twice that size in some years. Almost anyone who wants to sing
with us probably will be invited to do so.
We do hold auditions. In these, the music director assesses your ability to stay on pitch--the one requirement that we can't waive--and your vocal range. There's more
about auditions below. But we urge you also to browse this website to learn more about our group. In particular, we suggest you click on
About the Group, Concerts,
Rehearsals, and Past Concerts.
Then, when you're persuaded--or just want to know more--call our membership chair at (516)-829-8345 and mention "joining GNCS."
All About Auditions
Auditions for new members are held following each of the first three rehearsals in the fall season and each of the first three rehearsals after New Year's. See the
rehearsal schedule. For more information, call (516)-829-8345 or (516)-536-0451.
If possible, come to the first rehearsal--and come early enough--before 7:30 pm--to speak to the Music Director about your interest so she will make time to hear you after
the rehearsal. The Director will want to know about your prior experience in choral singing and how well you can read music. There is no need to bring any
music of your own, though you may certainly do so.
The audition will be highly informal--we like to say "friendly"--and quite brief. It will probably not be private, so don't be thrown by the fact that others besides the
Conductor will hear you.
If you are blessed with a lovely voice, and if you read music well, you will be welcomed with enthusiasm, of course. But more important than a lovely voice is a voice
that will blend, a love of the choral art, and the willingness to study a score, listen to recordings, and be wholly attentive at rehearsals.
How to Be a Good Chorus Member
If you're interested in joining the Great Neck Choral Society (or any other chorus) but are inexperienced in choral singing, we can highly
recommend an inexpensive paperback book to read and study. The title is "Choral Singer's Handbook" and the book was written by a long-time and
current GNCS member, Roy C. Bennett. It is now in its 28th year of publication.
The book, which is recommended by GNCS Music Director Virginia Davidson, tells how to audition, explains many "tricks of the trade" (in particular, how to learn
your part quickly and efficiently), contains exercises designed to teach
sight-singing, discusses the elements of music, defines musical terms, and tells how to pronounce Latin, German, French, and Italian.
The book, published by E.B. Marks and distributed by Hal Leonard, is priced at $6.95. You can get it in a music store. Or you can buy it online from such dealers
as Sheet Music Plus
(fastest delivery) or
Mega Music Bookstore.