Singing auditions for District choir 2017

This year I served as a judge for the Tenor 2 Room for the District-level Auditions for Region Choir 2017.  Below are some general observations that I wanted to share with my students.

1) I was blown away by how well-prepared most of the singers were.  Remember, most students only had two weeks to prepare for the audition due to Hurricane Harvey.  I went into the room expecting to hear a plethora of wrong pitches, rhythms etc...Instead, this year was the best District audition I have heard nine years of judging singers.  I really was impressed with everyone.

2) The most common mistakes were spreading of vowels and poor high notes.  This is where a good singing instructor comes into play.  Aside from having an ouside opinion to tell a student what needs work, there are very specific vocal techniques one can aplly to improve your high notes.

3) While pitch errors were rare, there were many problems with intonation (singing just above or below the pitch).  This as most likely the result of nerves.  When your breathing becomes shallow, or you stop using your air correctly, little imperfections start to emerge on matching pitches.

4) Musicality was excellent on the English song but lacking in the Latin one.  There is an easy fix to this: write in an English translation so you know what you are singing!  The "Laudamus te" is a song about rejoicing, and yet very few singers sounded happy when they were singing the selection!

5) It did not matter that students only sang two selections this year for auditions versus the usual three.  This was the result of coping with the shortened preparation due to Hurricane Harvey.  The reality is that a judge really only need a minute or so to make an accurate placement for each singer. 

6) Results were good for my students!  I'll post their results later this week once I have all the results in and speak to my students.

DWS