Auditions and Resources

Dates: November 7, 2023 – November 10, 2023
Location: Cayce United Methodist Church in Columbia, SC Auditions are open to all singers, grades 9th-12th, who are enrolled in your program for credit.

Audition Material

“Alleluia” by Pergolesi, ed. Bird Click Here for audition tracks.

Sight Reading Examples

Sample Sight Reading Examples The sight reading will occur in the same judging room immediately after “Alleluia” is finished. The scoring for sight reading is as follows: Students will receive 1 point for completing each half measure accurately (beats 1-2, beats 3-4), one point for retaining tonic, and one point for flow (maintaining a steady tempo with no hesitations or restarts). Students must attempt the rhythmic pattern and melodic contour in order to receive points for retaining tonic and flow. Scores from all three judges will be combined for a total score for sight singing. The maximum score possible for sight singing will be 54 points (18 points from three judges). This portion of the audition will also be blind.

Audition Rubric

Click here for the All-State Chorus Audition Rubric.

Membership

Membership in the All-State Chorus is based on the total points received in the audition. Students in grades 9th-12th must be enrolled for at least one credit during the 22-23 school year in a school choral program directed by a member with an active NAfME membership and in good standing with SCMEA. Membership of the director will be verified through the NAfME database. Home-schooled students enrolled in a public or home-school choral program for at least one credit in the 22-23 school year must provide documentation that qualifies them as 9th-12th grade students and a member of a South Carolina Home School Association at the time of registration. A director may not sponsor students enrolled in a school other than his/her own. Failure to comply with these rules will result in the involved student(s) not being able to participate in the All-State Chorus Weekend and their school being suspended from participating in auditions for the next academic year.

Registration For Auditions

  1. Choral directors should limit registration only to students who possess superior musical skills.
  2. Teachers must submit All-State Chorus Audition Registration through the process designated by the All-State Chorus Chairperson. The registration process is completed online.
  3. Audition Request Forms must be signed by the sponsoring choral director and the principal of each participating school.
  4. The audition fee is fifteen dollars ($15.00) per student and must be remitted to the All-State Chorus Chairperson along with a digital submission of the Audition Request Form. Registration fees should be paid using only one school check, personal check, money order payable to SCMEA Choral Division, or online (with CC processing fee).
  5. Registration forms must be completed online, and appropriate fees must be paid online or by check postmarked no later than Friday, September 30, 2022. (LATE AND/OR INCOMPLETE REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO AUDITION. NO EXCEPTIONS! Without payment, your registration will be considered incomplete and will be returned. If mailing one check for payment, please send to: Lizzi Elliott, Andrew Jackson High School, 6925 Kershaw Camden Hwy., Kershaw, SC 29067.  If your school district submits a check, please ensure that your school information is indicated and mailed with the check.
  6. Once the registration materials have been submitted to the All-State Chorus Chairperson, no refunds will be made, no substitutions of names will be allowed, no voice parts can be changed, and no other changes can be made.

Registration Instructions

Questions about eligibility and the online registration process should be directed to Lizzi Elliott.

Auditions

  1. Auditions will be held on November 7-10, 2022, at Cayce United Methodist Church, 1600 12th St., Cayce, SC, 29033.
  2. Auditions will be solo auditions and will be divided into two phases:
    1. Prepared audition selection: SSATB “Alleluia” by Pergolesi, ed. Bird.
    2. Sight-Singing
  3. The prepared audition selection portion of the South Carolina All-State Chorus auditions will be blind auditions. Students will be placed behind a curtain, screen, or partition. If this is not possible, judges will sit with their backs to the students.  Students will perform their part of the prepared audition piece with the audition prompt provided on the Choral Division Website. This track will include the starting pitch for their voice part and the other 4 voices played by piano, with their part omitted throughout. For example, if you are auditioning as a bass, the bass part will be omitted, and the soprano 1, soprano 2, alto, and tenor voices will be played by a piano track.
  4. Each student will be given a number of points on each phase of the audition. Individual singers will be selected according to their overall performance at the audition based on the total number of points received in the prepared selection and the sight-singing.
  5. Basic techniques and sight-singing will be judged individually. The student will audition individually before three judges. Each student will receive scores from three judges for the prepared piece. Individual student scores for the prepared piece will be determined immediately. The score range will be 0 – 50 for each judge. Each judge will award up to ten points in each of the following categories: Rhythmic and Timing Accuracy, Pitch and Intonation, Diction, Tone Quality, and Musicality. Scores from all three judges will be combined for a total score for the prepared piece. The maximum score possible for the prepared piece will be 150 (50 points from three judges).
  6. Sight-singing material will be selected by the All-State Chorus Committee Chairperson and the Audition Coordinator. After successfully completing the prepared selection, all students will sight-sing individually for the same three judges in the same audition room. 
  7. Sight-Singing Process: All directions will be given from a recorded prompt. Students may begin studying the example during the recorded prompt. The example will be 8 measures, printed on two lines, four measures per line. Students will be given the tonic triad and the beginning pitch. They will have 60 seconds to practice the 8-measure piece. After 60 seconds, the students will hear the tonic triad and the beginning pitch again. The students will have 45 seconds to sing through the piece. The student must set his/her own tempo. Count-off tempo will NOT be given. The student may sing on solfège, numbers, la, ta, count-singing, etc. The score range will be 0 – 18.

Sight-reading Parameters:

  1. The piece will be in any major key.
  2. It will start on Do and end on Do.
  3. The most difficult rhythm will be a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note.
  4. Skips will come from the I, IV, and V7 triads. (Do, Mi, Sol; Fa, La, Do ; Sol, Ti, Re, Fa)
  5.   There may be quarter rests. 

Students will receive 1 point for completing each half measure accurately (beats 1-2, beats 3-4), one point for retaining tonic, and one point for flow (maintaining a steady tempo with no hesitations or restarts). Students must attempt the rhythmic pattern and melodic contour in order to receive points for retaining tonic and flow.

Scores from all three judges will be combined for a total score for sight singing. The maximum score possible for sight singing will be 54 points (18 points from three judges). This portion of the audition will also be blind.  

After completing the sight-singing portion of the audition process, students will leave the building and have no contact with students waiting to audition.  

If you have students that need special accommodations due to disabilities, please contact the audition coordinator.

The maximum possible composite score will be 204 (150 from the prepared piece and 54 from sight-singing). 

  1. ALL STUDENTS MUST AUDITION AT THEIR SCHOOL’S ASSIGNED TIME. Although students may have previously been members of the All-State Chorus program, they will be required to audition again. 
  2. Absolutely no digital devices, including, but not limited to, phones, smart watches, CD players, CD recorders, iPods, MP3 players, video/DVD recorders, radios, or text messaging devices, will be allowed in or near the audition site. Cell phones are to be turned off and left outside the building. If a student is found using any device listed above within the audition site building, the device will be confiscated immediately. If a student’s digital device has been confiscated, that student’s audition will be forfeited, and the student’s school will receive a level 1 violation. That student’s teacher must pick up the device for the student before leaving the premises. Teachers and students are expected to respect the confidentiality of the sight-singing process and not share written or verbal communication.  
  3. No changing of clothes on site.
  4. Teachers must be present with their students at the auditions. Students not accompanied by their own teacher will not be allowed to audition.
  5. No photocopied music will be allowed.
  6. All incidents or exceptions pertaining to the All-State Chorus rules and regulations will be subject to review by the All-State Chorus Committee and could result in consequences to the school and/or student(s) involved.

Selected Participants

  1. The All-State Chorus will be composed of up to three ensembles (SATB, SSAA, TTBB) chosen randomly from the highest-scoring students. No alternate All-State Chorus members will be selected, nor may any teacher make any substitutions. Failure to comply with the substitution rule will result in the substituted students not being allowed to participate in the All-State Chorus Weekend and their school being suspended for the next academic year.
  2. Selected participants and score sheets will be posted on the lyricscore.net website. Cut-off scores and other information will be emailed to each director after auditions have been completed. It is the responsibility of the director to double-check the scores and notify students of their acceptance into the All-State Chorus. If you do not receive an email or have questions about scores, please contact Lizzi Elliott, Audition Coordinator.
  3. Schools with no students selected may be invited to bring their top-scoring students to participate in the All-State Chorus weekend. The highest score from the school must be over 134 in order for an invitation to be extended. The student will be a part of the All-State Chorus but will not be eligible to receive scholarships from colleges due to All-State Chorus acceptance.
  4. Teachers are responsible for the preparation of the music by their students prior to the

All-State Chorus Weekend. In the event an unbalanced group is chosen from any one school, cooperative learning rehearsals may be conducted by combining two or more schools. Teachers should not expect students to learn the music entirely independently. Rehearsal tracks will be provided for each student.   

  1. Music Screening/Part Check: There will be a music screening/part check event at the beginning of the first rehearsal. All-State Chorus Committee members will walk through while the choir sings each piece to ensure that singers have prepared the repertoire. If there is any question about their preparation, singers will be given an opportunity to privately demonstrate that they know the music. If singers cannot demonstrate proficiency, they will not be sent home, nor will we provide tutorials on-site. They will become an Auditor. If singers are significantly late to a rehearsal, miss an entire rehearsal, or commit some other major infraction of rules decided upon by the choir managers, they will become an Auditor. Auditor: Any singer who becomes an auditor will be allowed to attend all rehearsals, be seated in the back of the rehearsal hall, and learn as the other singers do; however, they will not be allowed to sing in the concert. Thus, they will continue to learn and be allowed to attend guest performances and social activities but will lose the privilege of singing in the concert.
  2. Attendance: All students that have been selected for the All-State Chorus must attend 100% of the All-State Chorus Weekend. All absences will be reviewed by the All-State Chorus Committee and could result in consequences to the school and/or student involved. All written documentation pertaining to absences must be submitted to the All-State Chorus Weekend Coordinator two weeks prior to the All-State Chorus Weekend. In an emergency, you must provide documentation at All-State Chorus registration.

**PLEASE NOTE: We will provide information about the All-State Chorus Weekend as it becomes available. The current plan is for All-State Chorus to be held March 2-4, 2023 at Winthrop University. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.