Joining SCS
We encourage prospective members to come along to a few rehearsals before deciding if they would like to join us. To discuss membership please call 0121 705 0311 or just turn up at a rehearsal.
Choir members begin to assemble at Sharmans Cross School, Solihull B91 1PH at around 7.30pm on Wednesday evenings and rehearsal is from 7.45 until 9.45pm with a short break for coffee and a chat. Our Music Director, Andrew Fletcher, works us hard but with a leavening of good humour, seeking to achieve a choral blend and musicality to match 'what he has in his head'.
If you decide you would like to join the Society, you will be asked to attend a short audition with the Music Director to confirm your membership. The audition will be quite informal and you should be prepared to sing a short passage of something you know (please bring the music with you!) in your voice part. This can be either a song, hymn or part of an aria, etc. You will be asked to sing up and down a scale as far as you can go, in order to assess the range of your voice and which voice section you are best suited to. Helpful advice is available before the audition. The most important thing is whether you can sing in tune, can hold your part and will blend in. Good sight-reading is helpful but not essential.
The feedback from new members is usually that the audition was easier than they had feared.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals under Music Director Andrew Fletcher are a happy mix of voice coaching and detailed study of the choral piece.
They start at the beginning of September and continue until the summer concert in June, with breaks of about three weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter. There are usually four concerts a year, which take place in various venues in and around Solihull.
When: Wednesdays 7.45 - 9.45 p.m.
Where: Sharman’s Cross Junior School, Sharman’s Cross Road, Solihull.
Parking: There is ample parking within the school grounds.
The rehearsal starts with a short warm-up, and then it’s heads down for some hard, but enjoyable, work. We break for coffee part way through, which is a good opportunity for getting to know each other and catching up on news. There is also an afternoon rehearsal on the day of the concert, at the concert venue.
Keep in Touch with the Choir
General Information
Subscriptions
The membership fees for the 2011-2012 season are as follows:
* full members £100
* for under 24s £50
Fees are due once you have successfully auditioned, and are pro rata if you are joining part way through the season.
We have a great scheme for students in full time education. If you pass our audition membership is free, and if you sing with us for a year we are able to give you a bursary of £50.
Music
Music hire is charged at a flat rate of £2 per concert, although from time to time, we may ask members to buy a specific work, if it is to become a standard part of our repertoire.
Concert dress
For concerts ladies are asked to wear a long (at least ankle length) black skirt, or black trousers,and a plain black long-sleeved blouse (with a collar).Turquoise scarves are issued on concert days.
Gentlemen are asked to wear either evening dress or black trousers and a black jacket with white shirt and black bow tie.