Penn Singers Light Opera Company

Come audition and/or interview to be a performing member, tech member or orchestra member in Penn's one and only four-year light opera company! Each semester, we welcome the next class of ‘Singers’, and we’d love to have you audition. Below you will find information on how to audition and interview for each of the three branches of singers: Tech, Orchestra, Performing. You are welcome to audition for more than one member status, but be sure to pay attention to the unique requirements of each!

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Performing Members:

How to Apply: Auditions will occur on January 20th (Annenberg 221) and 21st (Platt 180) from 11am-3pm. Your audition will only take approximately 10 minutes and you are welcome to come on either day. Auditions typically get busier in the afternoon times, so we advise coming in the morning if you want a shorter wait time.

Audition Material: Please prepare to sing 32 bars (about 30 seconds) of a song in the musical theatre or classical/opera canon. You may sing acapella or with a backing track. Additionally, we will have you perform some scales and tonal recall exercises to do a vocal range test (no need to prepare anything for this). We are just trying to get an idea of your range and ability to recall notes. Lastly, we will ask you to perform a short acting side of your choice from a list of sides available in the audition waiting room. The side will not be expected to be memorized, so there is no need to prepare anything for this portion. We will additionally use this audition as a space for you to learn more about our company, ask any and all questions you may have and to gauge your personal fit with the company!

**Auditions for Spring Show**

NOTE: Lead auditions for our Spring Show, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, will happen once admitted to the company. Only Performing Members in the company are allowed to audition for leads in our productions and every Singers Performing Member is guaranteed a role in all of our productions.

Auditions: Auditions will take place in-person and will be done in front of our professional Directors. Performing members auditioning for the show will be required to sing 32 bars of a song in the style of the show on January 23rd at a selected time between 4:30-8:30pm. You are welcome to use the same song you performed for New Member auditions as long as the song aligns with the genre of the show. After auditions, the Directors will schedule callbacks to take place that same week. This callback may include singing or reading from the show. All callback material will be sent to you in advance. The show will be cast by January 25th.

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Tech Members

Applicants are required to fill out an application and attend a chill, casual interview with our current Tech Directors in the Annenberg Lobby on the 20th and Platt House lobby on the 21st. You will fill out your application at the interview! Interviews will be at the same time as performing member auditions (Jan. 20th and 21st 11am-3pm) so you can attend both if you would like.

Interviews are casual and last around 10 minutes; they give the Tech Directors a chance to understand where and how your interests can best fit our company. No experience is required to apply—we’d love to meet anyone interested in tech! Please email us at pennsingersvicepresident@gmail.com if you are to attend tech interviews! As always, please feel free to send any questions that you may have about interviews or Singers Tech to us as well. :)

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Orchestra Members

How to apply and basic info: To apply, you are required to submit an audition form (found @pennsingers on instagram) which entails filling out basic background questions and indicating your availability for a 20-minute audition time in a Google Form. The auditions will take place from 11AM-3PM on Saturday 1/20, and will take place in Platt 176.

If there is a time conflict, the relevant parties will be contacted to resolve the issue. If none of the slots work for you, please contact the Librarian and Orchestra Manager (LOM), Trini Feng (she/her/hers), at pennsingerslom@gmail.com or (815) 388-6110 before the deadline (January 19th, 11:59pm) and we will work on a solution.

Audition contents: The audition will consist of two sections: (1) instrument performance, and (2) an interview.

For the instrument performance section, you will be required to perform one lyrical and one technical passage of music for about 30-60 seconds each*. The selections do not have to be from any particular genre. Please select what you feel will best express yourself as a musician! You may choose to audition on multiple instruments, which will occur within the same audition slot (though if necessary additional time accommodations can be made). Each instrument will require their own lyrical and technical passages.

*Percussionist auditionees are exempt from the lyrical passage; please instead perform two separate technical passages.

Due to current orchestra members' instruments, we cannot accept keyboardists, drummers, saxophonists, or bassists. You are welcome to audition on any other instrument, however! For example, if you play the instruments above, you are welcome to audition on a different instrument as your primary. For the interview section, which will occur after the instrument performance section, you will have a casual conversation with Trini following some guiding topic questions.

If you are accepted you will have priority for parts in future shows as a member of the company! If you have any questions about orchestra or the requirements, you are welcome to contact Trini at pennsingerslom@gmail.com

Link to the Orchestra Member application form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6gipaUmrpCWwVLZdAF0oQRJQafnlDM-rd2P6w9106yIl9Yg/viewform?pli=1

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Penn Singers Light Opera Company is a four-year company. This means that once applicants are admitted into the organization, they do not have to interview or audition in the future. Performers will be asked to audition for the production’s professional director every semester, but their place in the company and in any production is always guaranteed. We perform a Broadway style musical in the Fall and a Light Opera in the Spring and all company members are expected to participate somehow in both semesters. We provide multiple ways to participate so that our members can adjust their commitments every semester depending on their workload while still being involved – in the production and socially – in the company.

The average time commitment for a Singers member varies depending on the branch. Performing members performing in our productions rehearse from 7-9 hours a week. Tech members are expected to work on tech from 2-4 hours a week. Orchestra rehearses 3-4 times before tech week (~5-8 hours in the semester before tech week). If someone would like to be a part of multiple branches, they have flexibility to choose which branch to be active in – and how active they want to be – every semester.

Penn Singers dues range from approximately $15-25 depending on your social commitment with the club. If dues pose any barrier to your involvement with the club, we are always able and willing to make arrangements so that anyone can be a part of Singers.

If you have any withstanding questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us by email (pennsingers@gmail.com), or through our social media channels!