Tones Audition

Hi there.

If you’re seeing this, you’re auditioning (or have auditioned for) the Philosopher’s Tones for the 2023 season. Here are the times for the auditions on the evening of September 12th, 2023. If you have not yet filled out the questionnaire, please do so asap. If you haven’t filled it out by ten days before audition date (last day to fill it out is September 2), I won’t be able to have you audition.

Audition pieces

Here is the information you’ll probably want to have the answers to. Please let me know if any of this isn’t clear. The audition pieces are Riu Riu Chiu, Joy to the World, Angels We Have Heard On High, Gloucestershire Wassail, We Three Kings, and Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming. You’ll be singing with three other people to audition (none on your part). Please print them out and bring with with you to the audition.

Riu Riu Chiu

For Riu Riu Chiu, the way we do it is we all sing the first solo in unison and then break up into the parts. Then, each part takes a verse solo. If you’re auditioning for alto, please learn the solo that starts with “Este qu’es.” If you’re audition for tenor or bass, please learn the verse that starts with “Este viene…” for your solo. Thanks!

Relevant audition files.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cdABDyVvVEedTLYK7g5AyPe8oUeEef35?usp=sharing 

Note: you will also find things like the video release form and the w-9 form on there. Feel free to download them. If you join the Tones, I’ll need those from you via digital form right after you join.

Questionnaire

Please fill out this questionnaire if you haven’t already.
And here’s the link to answer some questions so I have an idea of your status. https://forms.gle/ajGxAS5tYvkz6TSx7 .

Rehearsals

We don’t have many rehearsals. That’s one of the reasons I need people who know how to read music and stick to their parts while being super entertaining. We typically have four rehearsals in one week while I’m down in Maryland. That’s usually in November sometime. So, what would happen is the following:

  • I’d get you the links to all the sheet music and the set setup.
  • You would need to print them out.
  • We would do a zoom call with all the new people where I go through song-by-song and tell you our particular quirks when it comes to singing these songs (we cut out verses that talk about suffering, bleeding, dying, etc., and we’ve changed some words as needed).
  • Then, you’d have to learn the parts by yourself.
  • Then, you’d come to the rehearsals ready to polish.

I require everyone to come to at least three rehearsals (they’ll be at the same church as where you’ll audition in Bethesda. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

Audition location

Bethesda United Church of Christ, 10010 Fernwood Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20817

Demos

This year we will be taking a new group headshot. We will also be recording new demos that incorporate the new people so everyone is represented in at least one song. This means one of our rehearsals will necessitate that you bring your costuming, and we perform to record verses of some of our repertoire.