If you’ve never sung in a choir, we’d highly recommend it. It feels wonderful to be part of something bigger than yourself, and it’s very easy to get swept away in the emotion and beauty of it all. Singing together is also proven to reduce stress, so it’s good for you, too!
At a time when so many of us feel disconnected, it’s no wonder that our choirs in the UK and around the world are still welcoming new members in huge numbers.
If you’re thinking of joining a choir but you’re not sure where to start, we’ve devised a handy FAQ for you which includes videos from our friendly members as well as a load of handy tips.
There are a whole load of different choirs available to you. They range from pop and rock choirs to musical theatre, gospel, choral (that’s us), and there are a lot of community choirs which will tackle a range of these styles, too. A ‘community choir’ is a totally open choir which allows all singers to join, regardless of their skill level in singing.
No, you don’t. There are many community choirs which don’t expect their members to audition.
There are other choirs which do hold auditions. We do this at The Bach Choir, but we do everything we can to make sure that you’re comfortable and to make the process as enjoyable as possible. All of our auditions are held by our Musical Director, David Hill, who is really experienced at holding these and making sure they’re enjoyable. You can hear some tips on how to prepare for a choir audition from him below.
This is up to you. If you’d like to be in a choir which rehearses regularly, holds regular concerts or recordings, and expects you to practise outside of your rehearsal time, there are plenty of these around. You will usually have to audition to join these choirs.
If you’d rather something more casual, there are plenty of community choirs around where anyone can join, rehearsals are optional, and the focus is just on enjoying singing together.
This is often possible. At The Bach Choir we allow prospective members to come and watch a rehearsal to see how they’re run.
A lot of choirs will also hold ‘Come and Sing’ days in which you can sing a specific work with the choir. You usually have to pay to attend, but you’ll gain a day of singing and some great insights into the work that you’re going through.
You can find out more about our Come and Sing events at The Bach Choir here.
It’s hard to describe in words, which is why we’ve made the below video — we mounted a camera on one of our singers’ heads to show the view from inside The Bach Choir!
There are plenty of choirs which you don’t need to read music to join. Most classical choirs would expect you to do this, and in other genres it will depend on the choir’s attitude towards this. If you know that you’re required to read music in a choir, it’s very common for new members to overestimate the level you’ll be expected to read at — so make sure you get in touch with them to find out what’s required, as you might be pleasantly surprised!
The Bach Choir sings a large amount of repertoire each year, which is great fun for our members, but does require confident sight reading ability, which we test for at audition.
Choirs usually rehearse once a week in the evening. It usually happens on a weekday. Depending on the choir you’re in, you might not have to go to rehearsals every week.
At The Bach Choir, we rehearse on a Monday evening between 6.15pm and 8.15pm, although sometimes our rehearsals are extended when we’re taking part in special projects such as film soundtracks and extra concerts. Our members don’t have to attend every rehearsal, but if they want to sing at a specific concert then they will need to show up to a certain number of rehearsals in which we’re rehearsing the repertoire for that concert.
We recently asked our singer Julia this very question. She spends a huge amount of time travelling to and from our rehearsals in London — over 4 hours, in fact! So there must be something that keeps her coming back…
If you’ve got any other questions you want answered about joining The Bach Choir, you can email our membership team at membership@thebachchoir.org.uk. To find out more about auditioning for The Bach Choir, click here.
Whether it’s a gospel choir, community choir or any other kind of choir that you decide to join, we hope that this guide encourages you to join one!
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