Join the Youth Chorus

May Festival Youth Chorus

The May Festival Chorus seeks skilled singers of all voice types in grades 8-12, including those with changed and changing voices. The Youth Chorus welcomes singers from a wide variety of local schools, including homeschools, and a wide variety of musical backgrounds. They are united in their love of singing and their desire to learn and grow as musicians.

The Youth Chorus audition will consist of two parts:

Prepared Solo: Perform a brief (3 mins or less) solo of your choosing. We strongly encourage you to perform a song with piano accompaniment, but it is not required. If you do perform a song with piano accompaniment, be sure to bring a printed copy for the pianist to use.
Vocal and Aural Exercises: In order to assess your vocal technique, the Youth Chorus Director will ask you to perform a series of simple vocal exercises. Aural skills will be assessed through pitch recall exercises and/or sight-reading.

Listed below are some common audition selections, and you are welcome to select one of these to perform. If you prefer to perform a song not listed here, that’s OK! Please notify us when you complete the registration form of this preference.

For each listed work, there are three files: a PDF copy of the score, a MIDI learning track and a piano accompaniment track. The learning track is for your reference and mirrors the learning tracks made available to chorus members.

Audition Piece	Score	Learning Track	Piano Track
Amazing Grace (E flat)	View	Listen	Listen
Amazing Grace (F)	View	Listen	Listen
America the Beautiful	View	Listen	Listen
My Country, Tis of Thee	View	Listen	Listen
Traditional, The Water is Wide	View	Listen	Listen

Fill out the online audition form to indicate your interest. Our chorus manager will contact you to arrange a time. If you are unavailable for the scheduled audition time, other arrangements can be made. The audition will last approximately ten minutes, and we will notify you of the result within one week.

MAY FESTIVAL YOUTH CHORUS FAQ

The May Festival Youth Chorus was founded in 1987 to provide skilled young singers in Greater Cincinnati the opportunity to connect with peers across the region and experience firsthand the thrill of performing with the May Festival Chorus. Today, the Youth Chorus brings together singers in grades 8-12 from nearly 30 area schools and homeschools. The Youth Chorus models its operations and activities after the May Festival Chorus, the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the Cincinnati Pops. Thanks to this close artistic and operational relationship with the CSO and Pops, singers in the Youth Chorus annually experience and participate in performances of the highest professional standards.

Just about everything! The repertoire of the Youth Chorus stretches from rarely-heard works from the Medieval era to newly-composed commissions written just for us. Each year, the Youth Chorus sings music from the classical and folk traditions along with pop and musical theater repertoire – and even film soundtracks!

In a typical year, the Youth Chorus will perform three or four concerts between September and April, often in collaboration with other community performing arts organizations. The Youth Chorus also makes featured appearances during the May Festival, including performances at Cincinnati Music Hall.

Recently, Youth Chorus members have performed a variety of special projects, including:

With the Cincinnati Symphony in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, live with film
With the Cincinnati Pops for their Lollipops tribute to the Cincinnati Reds
At Riverbend Music Center for the ever-popular Red, White, and Boom! Fourth of July Pops concert
And at Music Hall for Holiday Pops, performing for 15,000 Cincinnatians and thousands more who tune in from around the world via livestream!

The Youth Chorus can often be heard on 90.9 WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical music radio station.

All kinds! Solos often arise in our choral repertoire, and we will hear auditions from our chorus membership. When we perform our own concerts, we often have the opportunity to include solos sung by our members, and we will hold auditions for those opportunities as well. Occasionally, the CSO, Pops or May Festival may need a youth soloist, and we may refer a singer or hold auditions. Lastly, outside organizations, including film and theatre companies and civic institutions, may require a young singer, and will ask us for recommendations.

The Chorus holds highly efficient rehearsals every Sunday, September-May, from 1:00-3:30pm at Music Hall. The Youth Chorus makes every effort to schedule all of its activities on Sundays to avoid interference with school activities during the week. During orchestral performance weeks, singers should expect evening rehearsals in the days prior to the performances. Attendance at these rehearsals is required in order to participate in upcoming performances.

No! There are no fees or tuition payments associated with membership in the Youth Chorus. The organization provides members with music folders; learning materials; parking passes; ticket discounts and vouchers to May Festival, CSO and Pops concerts; meals during extended rehearsal periods; concert uniforms and much more! The May Festival also provides free, individual voice lessons with professional singing teachers to interested Youth Chorus members.

Yes! Some members of the Youth Chorus have aspirations of a career in music, but many do not. Alumni of the Youth Chorus can be found working in all kinds of industries, whether in the performing arts as performers and producers, or as nurses, entrepreneurs, biologists, teachers, and much, much more! Skills learned through membership in the May Festival Youth Chorus – such as team work, dedication, creativity, and problem solving – will support success in all of these careers AND in your studies at school.

Don’t worry – you are not alone! Many of our singers might be the only one from their school, but often, they succeed in convincing some of their friends and neighbors to join them. In addition, the Youth Chorus is a great way to expand your social circle and meet new people from all across the tri-state region who share your enthusiasm for music and want to grow as singers.

The only way to find out is to audition! We are looking for singers of all voice types and levels of experience. Our staff is listening more for potential than for achievement. Successful auditioners demonstrate pleasant vocal quality, a good sense of pitch, and an interest in learning more about their voice. Auditioning is a learned skill, and many singers who are unsuccessful on their first try return and audition successfully after another attempt.

Questions?

Other questions? We are always glad to hear from you. Get in touch with our staff and we'll answer your questions.

Contact the Director of Choruses

Contact the May Festival Chorus Manager