General Information: As a non-auditioned choir, Aurora Chorus welcomes any woman who shares our love of singing and our mission of inspiring and reflecting the universal yearning for peace. Our singers come from a variety of ages, walks of life, and musical skill levels. If you’re unfamiliar with Aurora’s style, you can listen or watch videos. The focus of the music selection is to express the universal yearning for peace and the power of women’s voices. More than 90 women strong, we perform three themed concerts each year. Those new to singing are welcomed in the fall and spring terms. If you have questions please email us at join@aurorachorus.org.
Requirements: Aurora is a non-auditioned chorus, and the ability to read a musical score is not a requirement. Singing with Aurora does require
- The ability to match pitch.
- Attendance at many rehearsals. While a few absences are allowed each term, there are strict attendance requirements. During each long concert term we rehearse: weekly on Thursday evenings in downtown Portland; one single Saturday morning (followed by a potluck lunch); three rehearsals over one intensive retreat weekend; one sectional rehearsal; and at an extra rehearsal for staging and lighting checks during the concert week.
- Memorizing the repertoire. There are many support systems in place to help you prepare the memorized repertoire for concert.
- Fees, usually $200 for a long concert term, plus about $60 for retreat. Fees help to defray administrative costs, to maintain the music library, and to acquire rehearsal spaces. In addition you will receive a group voice lesson at every rehearsal! Financial aid is available.
- Retreat is a weekend of rehearsals and the first time the chorus does a run through of the show. It is usually 2 weeks before concert. It usually a daytime event but on occasion chorus has gone out of town.
For New Singers
- New singers are usually voiced (that is, placed in a section as soprano 1 or 2 or alto 1 or 2) a day or two before the first rehearsal or if there are fewer than 10 new singers then in a 45-minute get-together before the first rehearsal. We are a non-auditioned chorus but the director does need to learn enough about your voice to know where you should sing. This is more or less a group process–big group singing then little group singing of some simple musical phrases.
- There is a 45-minute informational/check-in meeting before the second rehearsal of each term.
- New singers with little or no experience with singing or reading a musical score may be asked to attend a choral basics class scheduled early in the fall and spring terms. Only experienced singers are accepted for the winter concert term.
Specifics
- For the 2018-2019 year Fall Term begins on the first Thursday after Labor Day, and Spring Term begins the first Thursday after January 1.
- Weekly rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 9:30 at Cramer Hall, Room 453 at PSU.
- Retreat weekends are December 1-2 and May 4-5.
- Our concerts for the 2018-2019 year are December 15-16, 2018, March 3, 2019, and May 19, 2019.
If you are interested in joining or learning more, please fill out our Membership Form. Or send an email to Join@AuroraChorus.org with the following information:
- Name, address and phone number
- Voice part (if you know it)
- Singing experience (if any)
- How you found out about Aurora
We look forward to welcoming you to our community.