4Singing in a choir, even if you are not a musical genius, is a great way to meet people, conquer boredom, overcome the doldrums and expand your horizons. There may be some wonderful choral societies hidden within your community; you just have to know where to look.
- Decide if you want to sing early music, baroque, large choral works, orchestral or chamber music. Listen to some examples of each style of music. Here are a few examples you may want to check out: For early music, try Perotin's "Viderunt Omnes," Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus" and William Byrd's "Mass for Four Voices"; for baroque music, try Haydn's "Missa Cellensis" and Handel's "Messiah"; for 19th century works, go for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Edward Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius"; and for 20th century works, try Benjamin Britten's "Rejoice in the Lamb," Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms," John Tavener's "Funeral Ikos" and Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium."Ask the organist of your church or temple if she has a volunteer choir. Episcopal churches are good places to start, even if you are not a member of the denomination, and tenors are generally in short supply. Episcopal churches have trained organists, especially in bigger cities. Volunteer choirs meet on a weekly basis, usually on a Wednesday or Thursday evening, and are generally free to join. In an Episcopal church choir you are likely to encounter 19th century English revival works such as Anglican chant, early and baroque anthems, and seasonal works like Handel’s "Messiah." Occasionally, well-funded churches sponsor larger works on seasonal occasions like Easter and Christmas, and hire soloists for the occasion. This can be a very intimate and unique way to expose yourself to new works.Check on college bulletin boards, prep school alumni association newsletters, and music clubs for summer sings, town and gown performances and local concerts. Tell a perspective director that you are interested in singing, and you might get a ticket to an upcoming concert for free. Choral societies vary in size, tastes of the director, ethnic and cultural predilections of the particular group (such as The Gay Men’s Chorus). The particular bent of the city will have an influence on the type of choruses available, as well. For example, Boston is home to a large early music festival and hence has a lot of early and baroque music groups. New York is known better for opera and has a specific choral society dedicated entirely to doing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.Ask around and look on the notice boards If you are in college. Additionally, small towns have theater productions at local colleges which invite town people to audition for them, and community theater groups can be found in big cities and small towns alike, and may be a good way to get involved in musicals, if that is your particular interest.Attend a rehearsal. Choirs and individual choristers have varying levels of ability and sight reading skills, so attend a rehearsal to see if you like the people and if you fit in with the group. People in choruses tend to know about other groups too, so attending rehearsals is a good way to find out about other choruses as well. You may be asked to do a small audition if you want to join. It is nice to have a simple song prepared and which you are comfortable singing from memory. "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Amazing Grace" are popular choices for an audition.Ask up front if your perspective choir has a fee. Many choirs travel, so they have built-in costs, and often club choirs charge a fee in order to pay the director and accompanist.
