Choral Arts Society Ë®¹ûÅÉ
This symphonic chorus provides the opportunity for members of the college and wider communities to sing a cappella choral literature and the finest repertoire for chorus and orchestra.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals are held 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. on Monday evenings from September 5th through April 2023. The choir rehearses in Sloan Music Center at Ë®¹ûÅÉ College and performs regularly at venues across campus, including Duke Family Performance Hall and Ë®¹ûÅÉ College Presbyterian Church. Membership is by audition only.
Auditions
Please schedule an audition during the weeks of August 22 and August 29. New and returning members alike, no stressing. We promise that the audition will be welcoming. Please plan to arrive 10 minutes ahead of your slot so you can fill out a form ahead of your audition. Auditions are held in Sloan 102 (Prof. Berlin’s office).
During the audition, we will first chat. We need to confirm your commitment to the musical discipline and artistry that leads to choral excellence. Our rehearsals are fun and engaging, but they are also rigorous––we learn and perform a lot of music every year, and the professionalism that we bring to each of our performances is a result of a great deal of hard work that requires attendance at all rehearsals and commitment to building excellence and positive esprit de corps.
Then, we’ll do some vocal exercises that give us a better picture of your range, etc., and some basic sight reading and ear exercises. If you’d like to sing something 1-2 minutes, like a hymn or favorite song, you are welcome to. If you don’t have anything prepared, we will work with you; no problem.
Finally, we will notify those who auditioned the status of their audition on or before Friday, September 2. Rehearsals will begin on September 5th.
Open House & Social
Please join us in the choral room at Sloan Music Center the evening of Tuesday, August 16th from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. for an open house. This event is for new members and returning members alike. This is an opportunity for us to connect socially ahead of our first rehearsal (and after such a long hiatus), meet our new director, sign up for auditions, answer questions for new members, and perhaps casually sing through a favorite piece. Tea and a light refreshment will be provided.
Recent performances by the Choral Arts Society Ë®¹ûÅÉ have included: Duruflé's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat and Mass in B Minor, Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem and Serenade to Music, Haydn's Creation, Constant Lambert's Rio Grande, John Corigliano's Fern Hill, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, and Karl Jenkins's The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.