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Welcome
to the Ambassadors of Harmony Audition section.
When
you visit our rehearsal, you'll be welcomed by
men from every walk of life. We invite you to
sing with us when you visit. A Guest book with
sheet music to our arrangements will be handed
to you when you arrive. Please return it as you
leave at the end of a rehearsal. We begin our
rehearsals with warm up exercises,
and
we always sing a "tag" or two before
we begin the rehearsal,
Tag:
A coda; the ending of a song, often repeating
the final words and designed to make a complete
and satisfying arrangement. We learn tags "by
ear".
Our
audition process has evolved over the years in order
to enable us to grow to become International Champions,
and is quite challenging. You may audition for membership
by
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Coming
to and participating in three consecutive
rehearsals, and
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Completing
a live audition with our Music Committee by
singing your part to the song "I'd Love
to Live in Loveland" in a quartet. You
don't have to memorize the song, but you must
be able to sing all the words and notes correctly,
with good intonation, and a tone and quality
that will blend well with the chorus.
You
may also get the sheet music at a rehearsal,
along with a learning CD for your voice part.
Take a routing sheet with you to the audition
that you can get from the Chapter Secretary.
As
you practice your part to this song, it will
be helpful for you to attempt to match the tone
quality you hear in the learning track, and
to practice singing exactly together with the
other parts.
Our
craft has a strong visual component, so being
able to visually portray the "story"
and emotion of the songs visually is always
very important. Because of this there is also
some initial visual review and instruction
which you’ll receive.
Our standard guideline is that you have 3
months and 3 tries to pass the initial
qualification. But don't rush it - it's best
to practice on your own and then to practice
with a quartet before rehearsal or during
our break as many times as you need to in
order to be ready for the actual audition.
If
a prospective member hasn’t been able
to pass the initial audition after 3 tries,
the Music Committee may suggest other possibilities
for further learning of our craft.
Once
you've passed the initial audition and visual
review,
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the
Directors will initial your routing sheet
and you can pay your dues to become a member
of The Ambassadors of Harmony. Give the
routing sheet to the Secretary.
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You'll
be given a second routing sheet that you'll
need to have initialed by several members
of our board and music committee covering
everything from your uniform to your name
badge.
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Once
that's completed, you'll officially be a
member of the Ambassadors of Harmony. Then
you'll have an opportunity to audition to
become a member of the Performing Chorus,
and will have access to the learning tracks
and sheet music for our complete repertoire.
Members of the Ambassadors of Harmony Performing
Chorus are committed to perfecting their skills
by practicing on their own, and to attending all
rehearsals and performances.
We
also are committed to respecting our Directors
and each other when we perform either at rehearsal
or public performance. Click
here to see what we mean.
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Performing
Chorus Audition
To
audition to become a member of the Performing
Chorus, you must first have passed the
intital, live quartet audition. Then you'll
need to record yourself singing your part
with the chorus to the two current contest
songs, using your own or a borrowed personal
recording device. It's a good idea then to
listen to it and check yourself to make sure
you did your best job. If you think you can
improve on it, try it again at the next rehearsal.
It needs to be lyric and note perfect, and
of a quality that blends well with the chorus.
When you have a recording that you want reviewed,
give it to your section leader.
Tenor
- Tim Waurick
Lead - Rich Knight, Eric Dalbey
Baritone - Mark Keever, David Carlisle, Jonny
Moroni
Bass - Jim Henry, Brandon Guyton, Hal Maples
You'll
also need to learn some choreography since we
don't always stand still when we sing! Our Visual
Performance team will help you learn the movements
that go with the song, along with helping you
allow your face and body to show the joy you're
going to feel when you sing the great music
we have the privilege of performing. As part
of the performing chorus qualification, your
visual performance will be observed during rehearsal.
Our
standard guideline is that you have 3 months
and 3 tries to pass the performing chorus
qualification.
When
your section leader approves your audition recording,
and you've been passed by the Visual Performance
Team, you are a member of the performing chorus.
Then you have a lot of repertoire to learn!!
We have in our repertoire anywhere from 12 -
15 songs at any given time, plus another 15-20
songs for Christmas. As we add new ones, some
old ones may be dropped off the list. Learning
files (or CD's) and sheet music for these songs
are available. Some of these songs also have
planned choreography or stage movements for
you to learn.
You’ll
be on your honor to learn the remaining chorus
repertoire prior to your first performance,
and on your honor to take yourself out of a
performance if you don't know all the songs
we're singing in it. We have found that this
works very well. However as performances draw
near, the members of the Music Team will visually
monitor rehearsals in case there are those who
obviously don’t know the words to the
songs they’re singing because this truly
“sticks out” visually in a performance.
In the few cases where this occurs they may
ask the person(s) involved to “sit out”
an upcoming performance if they are unable to
learn the song(s) by then. They will also listen
“around the risers” for voices not
singing the right notes, and offer feedback
and or take action to ask a member to sit out
a performance, if appropriate. This information
is offered here to let you know that we are
dedicated to offering the highest quality, and
most professionally presented music in our performances.
In most cases, asking members to "sit out"
isn't necessary, because our members know to
take themselves out of a performance if they
know they aren’t fully prepared.
Members
also know that their regular attendance at rehearsals
and performances is essential to their being “ready”
to perform as a member of the Ambassadors of Harmony.
Our attendance requirements are that a member
be present for 65% of rehearsals throughout their
entirety. The requirement is 75% for members who
are in the front row. Many of us believe this
to be a minimum, and think that 90-100% is what
Champions are about.
Members
who are inactive for six months or more are
required to pass the Performing Chorus Audition
(recording and visual) upon their return before
they can again perform with the Ambassadors
of Harmony.
Our current repertoire is listed below:
America
Comedy Tonight!
Everything's Coming Up Roses
Fare Thee Well Love
Friends
God Only Knows
Higher and Higher
I Have Dreamed
I'll Walk With God
Man of La Mancha
Music of the Night
Pure Imagination
Ring of Fire
Salvation Is Created
Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat
They All Laughed
They Didn't Believe Me
Tonight, Tonight
We
also have a Christmas repertoire of more than
twenty songs. The
Ambassadors of Harmony, being a world class
chorus, will present you with both a challenge,
and an opportunity to give a most beautiful
gift to those who hear us sing. We welcome
your desire to join us and we look forward
to singing with you!
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