Audition Information

• To schedule an audition, please contact Artistic Director David Spitko at 215-542-7871 or email DSpitko@TheChoristers.org.
• For auditions, the Artistic Director has prospective singers perform warm-ups and vocalizations.  Then, prospective singers sing a musical piece of their choosing accompanied by the Artistic Director.  Sight reading is not part of the audition process, although the ability to read music is required for participation in the choir.
• New auditions will be accepted until the third scheduled rehearsal in a season.

For the safety of our singers, all choir members must be fully vaccinated.  New members will be asked to show proof of vaccination at their first rehearsal.  While strongly encouraged, masking is optional. 

The choir will also rehearse in the sanctuary at Supplee Presbyterian Church for increased ventilation and space between singers.

The Board retains the right to change these policies at any time.

• Rehearsals are held on Friday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Supplee Presbyterian Church, Maple Glen, PA.  A complete rehearsal schedule is distributed in July prior to the start of each  concert year.  Click here to view the most recent rehearsal schedule. 
• The 3 weeks immediately preceding a concert, rehearsals are held at our concert venue, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansdale, PA.
• An additional Sunday rehearsal is required which is one week before the fall and spring concerts.

• The Fall 2023 concert will feature Will Todd’s Mass in Blue accompanied by pianist Terry Klinefelter www.terryklinefelter.com, string bass Bill Zinno, alto sax Ron Kerber www.lyricfest.org/artists/ron-kerber/ and drummer Joe Nero www.joenero.com.  The soprano soloist will be Kathryn Radakovich https://www.kathrynradakovich.com/.  The remainder of the concert will include: 

  Title	Arranger
  I’ll Fly Away	Arr. Michael Hassell
  I’m So Glad	Arr. Michael Hassell
  I Love You For Sentimental Reasons	Arr. Paul Langford
  I Get A Kick Out Of You	Arr. Bob Alcivar
  It Had to Be You & You Made Me Love You	Arr. Adam & Matt Podd
  It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)	Arr. Mac Huff
  West Side Story Choral Suite – Mvt. 3: “I Feel Pretty”, “Cool” and “America”	Arr. Mac Huff

• The Spring 2024 concert will feature Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria accompanied by a 22 piece professional orchestra. 
• The Choristers pays it accompanying musicians close to union scale so it is able to contract the best free-lance instrumentalists in the Philadelphia area.

The choir generally performs two concerts per year: a fall concert (mid-November) and a spring concert (mid to late-April).

Click here to view The Choristers’ Attendance Expectations.

Yes.  Dues and music fees are due at the beginning of the fall and spring concert seasons.  Membership dues and music fees are currently $125/season.  Singers keep their music at the completion of the season. 

However, cost must not be a barrier to participation.  Scholarships from the Donna Boesler Scholarship Fund are always available for those singers who have such a need.  For all new singers, the first season of dues, music, and uniform will automatically be covered by the Donna Boesler Scholarship Fund.

• Yes.
• Women - Uniform black dress ($75), black stockings, black shoes.  The Choristers will fit new singers for the dress during one of their first rehearsals and facilitate ordering the dress.  
• Men - black suit or tuxedo, white shirt, black bow tie.
• Scholarships for concert attire are available. For new singers, the cost of the uniform dress will be covered by the Donna Boesler Scholarship Fund.  

The Choristers seeks to foster an appreciation of music within the community by offering performances of challenging and/or neglected choral works.  The Choristers’ repertoire spans a variety of styles, centuries, cultures, and languages.  While the choir does present many sacred works as most of the choral repertoire is such, it also performs secular music.

Pre-Covid the choir had 50-55 volunteer singers.  (We have 6 paid section singers: one soprano, one alto, two tenors and two basses.)  Last spring, we performed with 38 volunteers.  At the present time, with an aggressive recruitment initiative this August, we expect the choir will have 45 volunteer singers, maybe a few more.  Time will tell. 

The Choristers is privileged to have many singers who have added their voice to our number for many years - however, we are an open and welcoming group!  We have a good blend of new and seasoned members.  As of last spring, the breakdown was: Ten years or more: 15 singers; Ten to five years: 10 singers; Five years or less: 13 singers.

Yes.  We take a 10 minute break during every rehearsal.  Members of the choir volunteer to bring “goodies” each week along with a liquid (usually water).  During the break – about ¾ of the choir socialize while eating.  Before the first rehearsal, there is a pizza dinner for everyone to reconnect after the passage of the summer.  In October, the choir will have a cabaret fundraiser with members of the choir/friends performing.  Finally, after the concert around 25 members meet at an area restaurant to jointly experience our post-concert glow.

Both move things along quickly.  Each rehearsal starts with a warm-up period.  For the first 8-9 rehearsals, the choir rehearses music that we rehearsed in sectionals previously.  Then we break into soprano/alto and tenor/bass sectionals in two different spaces to work on notes.  This is to avoid singers sitting there while other sections are working on notes.  Then, the choir has its break mentioned above.  Then there is a period of announcements.  Then the last 40-45 minutes are used to practice jointly the music just practiced in sectionals.  Click here to view the rehearsal plan for October 14, 2022.  Very typical.

The choir rehearses at Supplee Presbyterian in Maple Glen until 5-6 rehearsals before a concert.  Then it moves to its performance space: Trinity Lutheran in Lansdale.  The sectionals end 2-3 rehearsals before we move to Trinity.  The two Friday nights before the concert, any accompaniment (other than piano) and soloists join the choir.  The Sunday night between these two rehearsals is a critical rehearsal in which we clean up any parts of the concert that are less than what we expect of ourselves.

The Choristers does not mind at all so long as the singer complies with the attendance policy.  We have many members who also sing in church choirs, and we have a few members who sing with another concert choir.  Click here to view the choir’s schedule.  Click here to view the choir’s attendance policy.