Louisa Denby
Choral Awards Co-ordinator
E choralawards@group.cam.ac.uk
All applicants for Choral Awards are auditioned through the inter-collegiate Choral Trials. The 2023 Choral Trials will take place in Cambridge 20-22 March.
Before the Choral Trials (by 10 March 2023)
You will be required to submit a video-recording in advance, of yourself performing a piece of your choice, which should be something that demonstrates the suitability of your voice to the traditional choral repertoire. The piece can be sacred or secular but should not exceed four minutes in length. A performance with pre-recorded accompaniment is fine.
If you do not have access to an accompanist, you may sing one of a number of set pieces for which we can provide pre-recorded accompaniment (see table below to download sample scores and audio files).
The Choral Trials (20-22 March 2023)
The audition itself will consist of:
- a live performance of a traditional song (folk song). Download
Folksong scores for further information. - a short piece of sight-reading. This will most likely include sixteenth-century polyphony (probably in Latin).
- a range tests and / or aural tests. This will consist of exercises such as recognising intervals, singing the middle note of a given chord, singing back a short melody, and other similar exercises. See Aural Tests for examples.
You may also be invited for a second audition with any of the Directors of Music of the choirs on your list of choices, and some Chaplains also like to interview candidates. These additional meetings will be organised by the individual Colleges.
Sample scores and audio files for pre-recorded audition pieces
| PDF Score | MP3 Audio File |
|---|---|
| A Bereite dich.pdf |
|
| A He shall feed his flock |
|
| A Qui sedes |
|
| An die Musik |
B flat (low)
D (high) |
| Apres un reve |
A minor (low)
C minor (high) |
| B Betrachte |
|
| B The people that walked |
|
| Caro mio ben |
C major (low)
E flat major (high) |
| Die Forelle |
B major (low)
D flat major (high) |
| Music for a while |
A minor (high)
C minor (low, or very high) F minor (medium) |
| S Come unto him |
|
| S Ich will dir mein Herze schenken |
|
| S Mein gläubiges Herze |
|
| T Adam muss |
|
| T Every valley |
|
| T Ich will nur dir |
