The UM Chamber Chorale and University Choir are open to all students across campus regardless of their major. Placement into Chamber Chorale requires an audition (information below) while University Choir does not. All singers must complete a voice placement, regardless of whether you’ve been in choir at UM before. A voice placement is NOT an audition. Following the voice placement, those interested in auditioning for Chamber Chorale who have qualified to continue will be notified via email and those interested in University Choir are done! Both choirs are MUSI 112a for freshmen & sophomores and MUSI 312 for juniors, seniors, and graduate students. University Choir is section 01 and Chamber Chorale is section 02. Registration can be changed after the auditions.
Rehearsal Times
- University Choir: Mon/Wed/Fri 11:00 am-11:50 am
- Chamber Chorale: Mon/Wed/Fri 1:00 pm-2:20 pm
2025 Fall Voice Placements
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
- Fall 2025 voice placements and Chamber Chorale auditions will be held during the week prior to the first day of classes in August in MUS 213.
- Registration is not yet open for those appointments. The link will be posted closer the start of classes.
- If you would like to be notified after the registration has been posted, email Dr. Hirner (stevie.hirner@umt.edu), and she will add you to the email list for voice placements.
Joining University Choir ONLY? (if interested in both ensembles, see the information about Chamber Chorale below)
- A voice placement for University Choir is NOT an audition! It is only an assessment of your voice and capabilities in order to place you in the correct section within the choir. It is low pressure, and no prior experience is needed! For the most accurate assessment, please arrive already warmed up.
- You'll sing a few exercises to establish your range, echo played examples to demonstrate tonal memory, and complete one sight-reading exercise to demonstrate music reading. It is 100% ok if you cannot read music, though!
Interested in auditioning for Chamber Chorale?
- Complete the registration form. All singers auditioning for Chamber Chorale are also eligible for University Choir. There is no need to do a separate voice placement.
- In the Chamber Chorale audition, you'll sing exercises to establish your range; echo played examples to demonstrate tonal memory; sight-read three exercises with chromaticism in various keys, time signatures, and difficulties; and sing an ascending and descending major scale while the same scale is played in a different key (ex. sing in C, but piano plays in Bb). For the most accurate assessment, please arrive already warmed up.
- Following the Chamber Chorale audition, all singers who qualify are must participate in the Callback audition, which will be held on Monday, August 25th at 6PM in MUS 218 (Choir Room). See below for more information.
Categories of Assessment for Chamber Chorale Audition:
- Highest / Lowest Possible Note
- Highest / Lowest Functional Note
- Registration Control / Mode of Phonation
- Breathing Technique
- Timbre
- Focus of Tone
- Onset
- Maturity of Technique
- Tension
- Vocal Weight
- Intensity/Volume
- Intonation
- Vibrato
- Accuracy of Rhythm / Pitch
- Steady Tempo
- Use of Solfege or other sight-reading method
- Tonal Memory
- Vocal Independence
Chamber Chorale Callback Information:
- Callbacks will be held on Monday, August 25th at 6PM in MUS 218 (Choir Room).
- Participation in the Callbacks will require independent preparation of the selected audition excerpts. Audition excerpts will be announced and sent to singers on Friday, August 22nd.
- Chamber Chorale will not hold rehearsal on Monday, August 25th, but the choir room will be open and students are encouraged to gather together to practice the audition excerpts.
- At the callbacks, students will be expected to demonstrate that they have learned the correct voice part for the provided excerpts by performing them alone and/or in small groups. There will be two portions of the callbacks: 1) auditions by sections 2) auditions in octets with one singer per part.
Feel free to reach out to Dr. Hirner if you have any questions: stevie.hirner@umt.edu