Students prepare to audition for choir

By Jamie Moddelmog,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

There are no shortages of singers at Davis High. Singing is a popular past time on campus; the school has four separate choirs, three with a required audition and stiff competition. The audition process is fun for some, nerve-wracking for the others and differs between the ATC, Madrigals and Jazz choirs, the three choirs with required auditions.

The Jazz Choir, which is run by Mr. Zinn, requires sight singing, an acapella solo audition and a seperate dance audition. The Madrigals Choir and Advanced Treble Choir, both directed by Ms. Guardias, also require sight singing and a solo, but do not require the solo to be acapella and have no dance audition.

“Mr. Zinn and I have differences of opinion. He likes to see if they can hold the key. I think it is more of a real audition with an accompaniment,” Guardias said.

A major factor in auditioning for any of the choirs is what piece to select for the solo portion.

“You have to choose a song that fits your vocal range and shows off your vocal range. Your highs and your lows,” senior jazz choir member Hana Wood said.

The style of music selected can also be important depending on which choir you’re auditioning for.

According to Guardias most people auditioning for the madrigals will perform a classical piece.

“The Madrigals choir is primarily classical, but they do […] sing some pop songs. ATC does everything,” Guardias said.

Contrary to what the name implies, Jazz Choir does not focus exclusively on jazz pieces. Sophomore Ela Lopez auditioned for the jazz choir with a show tune.

“People said it was better to choose some musical theater stuff to audition with,” Lopez said, “That’s the main focus for the choir.”

“[Jazz Choir] not require jazz background. It’s more of a show choir. We do jazz numbers and a jazz set in our cabaret. You don’t need to know jazz standards to get in. Alot of people audition with jazz songs. It’s pretty funny,” Wood said.

One of the main features that distinguishes the jazz choir from the other two is the dance element.

“I think so (dance is hardest part of audition). Its pretty nerve wracking cuz you have to learn the choreography in less than an hour and perform for judges so it’s gonna be kinda scary,” Lopez said.

A major factor in the auditions of all the choirs is ability to read music. As a result, all choirs have a sight-singing component in their auditions.

“If I was auditioning again I’d practice my sight-singing more cuz I know that’s a really big factor and it’s really embarrassing going in there and you don’t really know what you’re doing as well as you should,” senior and jazz choir member Kendall Martinez said.

Although technical elements are important, both students and instructors say attitude plays a large role in whether you are admitted.

Guardias said one criteria considered was “Whether or not they’re excited to be in [the choir].”

“I said hi to all of them and tried to smile and stand up straight and be really confident,” Lopez said.

Conveying confidence is a way to show the judges excitement about singing, as well as how you are going to act during a real performance.

“When I’m on stage I put on a really big personality and have big smiles My emotions are more amplified when I’m on stage, so I just do that during auditions,” Wood said.

Showing confidence in an audition can also show the panel that you’re not self conscious and willing to try new things you may not necessarily be good at.

“In the dance audition it’s not like ‘Oh can you do every move perfectly?’ it’s ‘Can you try stuff?’ If you just push yourself to do things and be okay with messing up, just showing that you try your best, that’s what it mainly is,” Wood said.

The chances of getting in to an audition choir vary year by year. The determining factors are how many seniors are in the choir and what the boy-girl ratio is.

“Mr. Zinn tries to keep it a nice ratio between guys and girls […] He has like 20 girls to 6 guys so it’s not super overpowering” Wood said. “It’s a lot less competitive for guys than girls. If [guys] can sing, we’ll teach [them] to dance.”

The opposite has occurred in Madrigals this year, with more boys than girls auditioning for the chamber choir, according to Guardias. The main restriction of the madrigal choir is the cap of thirty-two members maximum.

The Advanced Treble choir has a lot more flexibility given that its comprised of only girls and has no limit on the amount of singers.

“If you’re good enough Guardias will let you in [to ATC] whether or no theres a spot open,” Martinez said.

Regardless of the different requirements and selection considerations, Guardias holds that none of them are better than any other and should not be ranked.

‘“Everyone thinks there’s is the best. Really they’re just different choirs,” Guardias said.