A Singer\u27s Perspective on Recruitment, Auditioning, and Vocal Technique in the Choral Program

Choral singing has been a part of culture for centuries. Choirs are comprised of singers with a near endless variety of experience levels in terms of training and technique. Three problems that face directors of choirs are: 1) How to recruit and retain students for their programs, 2) How to audition and structure, and 3) How to incorporate vocal technique into the choral rehearsal. In this paper I address some suggestions for recruitment that will touch on the ideas of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the basics of group vocal technique - breathing, tone, and diction, and reference the teachings of respected choral conductors and pedagogues. I also compare and contrast those findings with the basics of vocal pedagogy for the solo singing student. With the understanding that singing is singing, I expect to find many overlapping fundamentals in technical approaches. For example, breathing for singing is the same regardless of whether the singer is singing alone or in a group. However, I address the possible compromises in solo vocal technique that a choral singer must make. Finally, I address some basic techniques for including the found principles into the high school choral rehearsal, thereby establishing a sound vocal foundation for high school singers