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How To Join |
How to JoinWe meet on Thursdays, September - June in 3 terms, at Christ Church, 155, Highbury Grove, London, N5 1SA [map]. This is a wheelchair-accessible building with good facilities for people with disabilities (but please note that car parking can be difficult, especially when Arsenal have a home match!).
Performing ChoirIf you are keen on singing in a wide variety of musical styles, from 16th to 20th (and 21st!) century, from masses to jazz, American and African music, and you have a voice and some knowledge of reading music, then you would enjoy singing with this established and successful choir of about 50 singers. Prospective new members should contact Eclectic Voices for a
voice test. We arrange these at the start of each project, typically
twice a term. At these, the Director (Scott Stroman) and Deputy (Sarah
Wilkinson) will listen to the applicant's voice and check their
sight-reading skills. For applicants who meet the standards, the
Director and Deputy will advise when you can join the choir: this
depends on the rehearsal schedule. Places in some voice parts are limited and
the number of new members taken on at each audition session will be
restricted. Should you meet the standards needed when there are no
vacancies in your voice part, we will, with your permission, keep your
details and contact you when a space is available. ** No more audition places are
available until April 2010. All audition candidates for January
2010 have been contacted by email. ** People normally are quite nervous at auditions and we want to try to make you feel you really have the chance to show us your voice at its best. Our assistant director, Sarah Wilkinson leads the auditions. There are four parts to it. 1. You sing some basic scales and/or arpeggios so we can get a feel for the quality of your voice and its range. (This is not a competition to see how high you can sing!) Piano accompanies you. 2. (Optional) - You bring a long a piece of music that you want to sing to us - bring piano accompaniment too if you have it. Or you can sing from memory unaccompanied. It can be anything from complex classical or jazz to the simplest folk music. The important thing is that it's something where you feel you can sing with confidence. It's not a performance, and you don't have to sing an entire song. 3. Some basic sight reading of a piece of gospel music. 4. Some basic sight reading of a piece of classical music. Eclectic Voices is quite a challenging choir. You need to put time in between rehearsals to learn the classical music and we often learn parts of the Gospel/World/Jazz music by heart. You don't have to be an expert sight reader, but you won't really be able to enjoy the choir, or be a full member, if you don't put time in between rehearsals. If you haven't sung for a long time, we really recommend that you have some singing lessons with a good teacher to build up your vocal qualities. There is a subscription (£60 termly or £7.50 per session) to cover the costs of venue and the professional musicians. Concessions are available to unemployed/retired/students. For further information please e-mail info@eclecticvoices.org.uk . We expect members to participate in the full range of EV activities: this will usually involve singing from a range of styles including classical, Gospel, Jazz, and music from around the world. All members have their favourite style of music, but the special feature of Eclectic Voices is the way that everyone will enthusiastically try music of every style and from any culture. Some of the repertoire is learnt by ear, but members need to read music and a willingness to spend time learning the more complex material outside the rehearsal. Highbury Young SingersThe children's choir consists of two groups - for juniors (4.00-5.15pm) and seniors (5.30-6.30pm) - and offers a lively introduction to choral singing. As with the adult Choir, a wide variety of music is used: everything from Baroque to the Beatles, and beyond! To find out more, please e-mail info@eclecticvoices.org.uk
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