The Academy Juniors is an auditioned, extracurricular vocal ensemble for Brentwood Academy middle school chorus students. The group is intended for serious singers who would like to further their vocal music experience and training. Auditions are open to all students grades 6-8. Students who make the group will also be enrolled in Chorus for the 2020-2021 school year. If your student signed up for another elective but would like to audition, we can change his or her elective choice to Chorus, should he or she make the group.
All students wishing to audition for Academy Juniors should complete the audition form so an audition time may be assigned for the afternoon of Thursday, August 13. Right now, we will plan to audition in the chorus room in the fine arts building. Auditions should not last more than five to ten minutes.
LINK TO AUDITION FORM: https://forms.gle/mYagyYKC88Z2zjwD9
The audition process will have three components: solo, range testing, and part-singing.
1) Solo: please be prepared to sing about 30 seconds of a song of your choice. The song can be any style, but it must be performed a cappella. Choose a song that you are comfortable singing and that shows off the quality of your voice. It could be something you already know!
2) Range testing: students will be asked to sing a series of vocal warm-ups to determine voice placement.
3) Part-singing: Follow the instructions below to learn the harmony part you will sing for the audition. I asked Gwen Merrell (former Academy Singer) to sing each part to help you learn the part-singing portion of the audition.
All students wishing to audition for Academy Juniors should complete the audition form so an audition time may be assigned for the afternoon of Thursday, August 13. Right now, we will plan to audition in the chorus room in the fine arts building. Auditions should not last more than five to ten minutes.
LINK TO AUDITION FORM: https://forms.gle/mYagyYKC88Z2zjwD9
The audition process will have three components: solo, range testing, and part-singing.
1) Solo: please be prepared to sing about 30 seconds of a song of your choice. The song can be any style, but it must be performed a cappella. Choose a song that you are comfortable singing and that shows off the quality of your voice. It could be something you already know!
2) Range testing: students will be asked to sing a series of vocal warm-ups to determine voice placement.
3) Part-singing: Follow the instructions below to learn the harmony part you will sing for the audition. I asked Gwen Merrell (former Academy Singer) to sing each part to help you learn the part-singing portion of the audition.
PART-SINGING INSTRUCTIONS
1) Download a PDF of the short musical excerpt from the Shakira song, Try Everything with three-part harmony below so you may follow your part.
1) Download a PDF of the short musical excerpt from the Shakira song, Try Everything with three-part harmony below so you may follow your part.
| try_everything_audition_-_score.pdf |
2) Listen to Gwen as she sings the verse, plus all three parts to the chorus so you can hear what it will sound like all together.
Try Everything_All Parts_GUIDE
3) Everyone will sing the verse from measure 3 to measure 9: Birds don't just fly they fall down and get up. Nobody learns without getting it wrong. Then you will split to your harmony part.
4) For measures 10 to the end, choose to sing either Part 1 (the higher part) or Part 3 (the lower part) but no one should sing the melody (Part 2). Gwen will sing the melody while you will sing either Part 1or Part 3. Listen to the rehearsal GUIDE tracks below to learn the part you select. The Chorus begins at :20 on the track below.
Try Everything_Part One_GUIDE
Try Everything_Part Three_GUIDE
5) Once you are confident that you know your harmony part, practice with the AUDITION track below, and sing your part while Gwen sings the melody and the third part. The audition track that you choose will be the track that will be played in your audition while you add your part.
Try Everything_Part One_AUDITION
Try Everything_Part Three_AUDITION
6) That's it! I will be emailing you a specific audition time for the afternoon of August 13 very soon, so be on the lookout!
All Academy Juniors will be enrolled in Chorus, however, members of the Academy Juniors will be excused from Chorus one day per week and will be excused from study hall one day per week, allowing Academy Juniors to rehearse during the school day. In the past, rehearsals were held two days a week from 7:00-7:30 AM. It will still be necessary to schedule a few morning rehearsals, but they will be only once or twice a month instead of once or twice a week. A full schedule will be sent to students and parents once audition results are announced.
Those selected to be Academy Juniors will be expected to be model Chorus students, learning and retaining music as quickly as possible to be music leaders in class. Academy Juniors will also be expected to set the example in terms of teacher policies and procedures, setting the example for proper classroom behavior.
Your audition time and rehearsal tracks will be emailed to you by August 6. Callbacks, if needed, will be on Monday afternoon, August 17. Mrs. Oldham will contact you individually if you will be needed for a callback.
Still have questions? Contact director, Jenny Oldham at jenny_oldham@brentwoodacademy.com.
Those selected to be Academy Juniors will be expected to be model Chorus students, learning and retaining music as quickly as possible to be music leaders in class. Academy Juniors will also be expected to set the example in terms of teacher policies and procedures, setting the example for proper classroom behavior.
Your audition time and rehearsal tracks will be emailed to you by August 6. Callbacks, if needed, will be on Monday afternoon, August 17. Mrs. Oldham will contact you individually if you will be needed for a callback.
Still have questions? Contact director, Jenny Oldham at jenny_oldham@brentwoodacademy.com.