Auditions Regulations and Procedures
for the
2012 OMEA All-State Children's Chorus

Audition Regulations: (Download the pdf format of the information below by clicking here.)

DOWNLOAD THE 2011-2012 ALL-STATE CHILDREN'S CHORUS AUDITION APPLICATION FORM (MSExcel) (Click here)

NOMINATIONS:

The nominating teacher must be a current OMEA member, and a photocopy of the teacher’s current MENC membership card MUST be included with the audition form. Failure on the teacher’s part to follow this procedure will result in the student's not being considered.

b. Each school may submit the following number of auditions for OMEA All-State Children’s Chorus, according to the following formula:

# of participants in CTSWS Maximum # of CDs (One CD per student registration
1-20............................................................................................. 5
21-24............................................................................................ 6
25-28............................................................................................ 7
29-32............................................................................................ 8
33-36............................................................................................ 9
37-40.......................................................................................... 10

c. The nominating teacher MUST purchase an audition CD from the current OMEA All-State Children’s Chorus Chair, OR download the m4a files from the bottom of this page. (See instructions)

d. An audition CD must accompany each singer’s nomination form. (Auditions on tape will be disqualified.)

e. A nomination/audition fee of $5.00 must accompany each application postmarked by the first deadline. After the first deadline and prior to the second deadline, the audition fee will be $15.00. Following the second deadline, an emergency audition fee of $100.00 must accompany all audition entries which MUST be hand-delivered by 9:00 AM to the All-State Children’s Chorus Chair at the October Convention.

f. Nomination materials must be postmarked on or before the Friday following the first full week in October. Send materials by certified mail with a return receipt requested.

Procedure and Preparation

1. The recording must be made on a CD of good quality. This year, (2011 - 2012) OMEA All-State Children’s Chorus, auditions will be a CD ONLY audition; audio tapes will no longer be accepted. For a list of possible recording devices available, please see the link provided at the bottom of the OMEA All-State Children’s Chorus web page.

2. You must use a different CD for each student.

3. A student may only be entered one time.

4. Label each CD with the student’s name and voice part only (Soprano 1, Soprano Middle, Alto Middle, Alto 2). Voices designated "middle" will sing the middle part of any three-part music. Please put each CD into a protective sleeve or case, and mail in a protective envelope.

5. Have the student speak his/her name and specific voice part, slowly and clearly at the beginning of the audition. (Be sure that singers state the year for which they are auditioning, i.e. 2012) This will be the only script heard on the tape.

6. The auditioning teacher must conduct the audition.

7. Please practice the audition prior to recording, and send only the highest quality to be judged.

8. Once you are recording, do not stop or pause the CD until the audition is complete. Failure on the teacher’s part to follow this procedure will disqualify the student.

9. Download a judging sheet from the OMEA web site (www.okmea.org), and judge your student(s) using the printed guidelines. Do this before mailing. (Do not mail the trial judging sheet you have done. It is only for your use.)

* Students’ auditions will be disqualified for any of the following reasons:

If the teacher’s voice is heard on the recording
If other sounds are heard at any point on the recording.
If the recording is stopped or spliced at any point during the audition.
If the tempo/pitch of the audition CD is altered in any way.
If a copy of the teacher’s current MENC membership card is NOT included with the audition material.

Audition Format

Start recording.

Singer reads: “My name is __. I am auditioning as a/an_ (soprano, soprano middle, alto middle, alto) for the 2012 OMEA All-State Children’s Chorus.”

Start audition CD.

Part A:

Vocalize: The student will sing 4 five-tone scale passages, ascending and descending, beginning on the given pitches and staying with the tempo of the metronome. All vocalises must be sung without accompaniment. Only the pitch will be given for each of the four vocalises. Vocalises are to be sung on the syllable,”mah” or “zah.”

The starting pitches for the vocalises are as follows:

Soprano	Soprano Middle	Alto Middle	Alto
D above middle C	Middle C	Bb below middle C	A below middle C
F# above middle C	E above middle C	D above middle C	Middle C#
A above middle C	G above middle C	F above middle C	E above middle C
Fourth line D	C above middle C	Bb above middle C	A above middle C

Part B:

Harmonic Singing:

The student will demonstrate harmonic singing on the syllable “loo.”

Step One: Have the student listen as both voices are played together.

Step Two: Have the student sing the upper line, while the lower line is played. The student should begin after hearing the starting pitch and the metronome count-off.

Step Three: Have the student sing the lower line while the upper line is played. The student should begin after hearing the starting pitch and the metronome count-off.

Part C:

Prepared Song: The student will demonstrate melodic singing on the prepared song, “Jubilate Deo.” The student should begin singing without accompaniment after hearing the starting pitch and the metronome count-off.

The starting pitches for the song are as follows:

Soprano: Fourth line D (Key of D)
Soprano Middle: C above Middle C (Key of C)
Alto Middle: Bb above Middle C (Key of Bb)
Alto: A above middle C (Key of A)

Pronunciation of the Latin syllables is as follows: Ju = yoo; bi = bee; la = lah; te = teh; / de = deh; o = open oh;/ A = aw; le = leh; lu = loo; ia = yaw

VERY IMPORTANT!!! DO NOT STOP THE RECORDING BEFORE THE TONIC CHORD AFTER THE STUDENT COMPLETES "JUBILATE DEO," OR THE STUDENT WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED.

Checklist before mailing

1. Listen to the recorded audition. Are there any additional noises or flaws in the recording, including but not limited to: possible clicks that may sound like the starting/stopping of the recording, humming of any kind, the teacher or another student’s voice, intercom announcements, or the sound of a piano, other than that on the audition CD? If so, please re-record. Any of these sounds could be a cause of an automatic disqualification. This does not include coughing or clearing of the throat by the student.

2. Make sure the CD finalized before mailing.

3. Please check to see that the student's form is absolutely complete, with all information, signatures, and a photocopy of the teacher's current OMEA membership card.

4. Remember to enclose the $5.00 per student fee. Make checks payable to OMEA. Do not send cash.

5. Mail audition materials on or before the audition deadline. Mail by certified mail, with a return receipt requested. Mail all material to the All-State Children’s Chorus Chair’s address listed at the bottom of the Audition form?

DOWNLOADING m4a audio files. (Playing them directly on computer or using iTunes for downloads)

Right now, iTunes is the only proven way to download the files. iTunes is free, and available for most computers. Click here for download.

M4a files are an extention of the same files you use for iPods, except they are more accurate, and deal with music NOT under copyright. Not all computers or browsers may be able to download them. The files were developed by Apple, but most other computers can use them.

When you click on the download link (below, in blue) for a particular track, your computer should begin to play it. You may want to use the files in this way.

(For Mac computers) If you want to download the files to your computer desktop for later use, go to the "FILE" menu stack (upper left in Firefox), pull the menu down and choose "SAVE THIS PAGE." Follow the instructions and the file will be downloaded to your desktop. When you click on the file (outside your browser) the file will open in iTUNES. From there you can burn your own CD or move it to an iPod. (Download iTunes for free)

Instructions for Internet Explorer and PCs: (courtesy of Kathy Gossen):
     1. Right click the track you want to download.
     2. From the upper menu, select "Save Target As"
     3. Open the tracks using whatever audio program you usually use (iTUNES is the most standard) and either burn them into a CD or load them on your                                 iPod.

If your computer cannot accomplish this, write editor@oklamus.org by next year we will try to make it more convenient for all.

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Auditions Regulations and Procedures for the 2012 OMEA All-State Children's Chorus