Choral Ensembles
Choral Ensembles
We have six choirs on campus, all of which are open to students from across campus. Two are open to students and do not require an audition- simply register: Concert Choir & Resound. The other four require an audition: Chorale, University Singers, Schola Cantorum, and Jazz Singers.
Joining a Choir
Concert Choir & Resound
No audition is required!
Sign up for Concert Choir using MUSC462
Sign up for Resound using MUSC465
Chorale, University Singers, Schola Cantorum, and Jazz Singers
All students who hope to participate in Chorale, University Singers, Schola Cantorum, and/or Jazz Singers (even returning members) must submit a new audition each year. To audition for one of these choirs, visit this link:
Chorale (MUSC463)
- Auditioned
- M/W 4:40-6:40 pm
The UD Chorale is among the most highly regarded college choirs in the Eastern United States. In recent years, the choir has been invited to perform on both regional (Pittsburgh, 2002; Hartford, 2008; and Boston, 2016) and national (Los Angeles, 2005 and Dallas, 2013) conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). They have also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and Verizon Hall in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Arts. In addition to annual regional tours, the Chorale has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia.
In addition to a 10-day concert tour of China in 2009, the Chorale has performed to great acclaim throughout Europe, competing in contests in Tolosa, Spain (2010); Debrecen, Hungary (2012); and Tallinn, Estonia (2007). In each case, the choir placed in the top three of every category in which they competed, winning the Grand Prix in Estonia and the runner-up to the Grand Prix in Hungary. They were also the only American university choir to be featured on the 30th International Society for Music Education World Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece in 2012. In the Spring of 2017, the Chorale embarked on a month-long journey overseas to perform Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Israel. They then journeyed toward Europe with performances in a festival in Malta and an International Choral Competition in Germany.
The Chorale has released five compact discs, the most recent featuring virtuosic choral music of Eastern Europe, titled The Road to Debrecen, (Now available on iTunes) and more recently Carols by Candlelight.
Chorale members are part of the symphonic chorus that performs regularly with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, most recently in the highly acclaimed performance of the Cherubini Requiem. Other recent appearances include Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
The University Singers are a select ensemble of treble voices at the University of Delaware, chosen by competitive audition at the beginning of each year, and comprised of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors from over 30 majors across the University. The University Singers perform 4 to 5 concerts each year, and tour regionally to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. They appeared at the NAfME Eastern Conference in 2013, ACDA Eastern Conference in 2014 and 2018, and NJMEA Conference in 2019. The University Singers perform a varied and diverse repertoire that spans medieval chant, Baroque chamber music, 19th Century opera, contemporary, jazz, and multicultural works.
The University Singers are directed by Duane Cottrell and rehearse on
- M/W 4:10-5:30 pm
The University of Delaware Concert Choir is a chorus open to all university students dedicated to the performance of unaccompanied and accompanied choral music in a variety, directed by Aimee Pearsall. This ensemble is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students who represent a large number of degree programs.
Concert Choir rehearses on Tuesday/Thursday from 12:30-1:45 p.m. in Room 118 of Amy E DuPont Music Building.
ENROLL TODAY! No audition required. MUSC462
Schola Cantorum is the Symphonic Choir at the University of Delaware that is open to students, faculty, staff and community members who love to sing!
The UD Jazz Singers is a chamber ensemble that explores vocal jazz repertoire and techniques and performs with the UD jazz bands and jazz chamber groups. In addition to concerts on campus, the Jazz Singers have performed at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. The Jazz Singers learn and perform complex arrangements of jazz standards on individual microphones with 1-3 voices per part. Ample solo opportunities are available, both notated and improvised. No jazz experience is necessary, but participants should be strong singers with a desire to develop skills like intonation, rhythm, improvisation, jazz vocal technique, rehearsal skills, and more.
For more information contact Dr. Duane Cottrell, dco@udel.edu.
- No Audition Required-Simply Register!
- T/Th 5:15-6:45 pm
Ready to Audition?
The preliminary audition for all choirs at the University of Delaware is basically the same—just show up!
The audition will take approximately 5 minutes as we work with you on the following:
- Vocal Range: We will do a series of vocal exercises to find out the lowest and highest useable register of your singing voice.
- Tonal Memory: A series of pitches will be played at the piano, after which you will be asked to sing them back. This is to see how well you hear difficult musical passages.
- Sight-reading: You will be given a simple sight-reading example simply to demonstrate how well you are able to read music. The objective is to keep going, no matter what happens. Even if you don’t think you read music, simply follow the notes up when the go up, and down when they go down. Give it your best shot!
- Vocal Quality: If we haven’t been able to determine enough about the overall quality of your voice by this point, we might ask you to sing a simple melody, such as Happy Birthday or My Country ‘Tis of Thee without accompaniment. You do NOT need to prepare an audition piece for this hearing.
You will also be asked which ensemble you are most interested in joining. If all things are considered equal, we will make every effort to honor that request.
