Osher School of Music Ensemble Auditions
Please prepare a piece(s) that best demonstrate your ability to perform both fast/technical, as well as slow/lyrical music. This may be a piece that contains both or two different works or excerpts.
- Sight-reading may be required.
- Auditions are between 5 -10 minutes.
Students may enroll in MUS 400 (Undergrad) or MUS 500 (Graduate) to receive credit for Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra.
Once accepted into the ensemble, it is expected that members will meet the required attendance and performance requirements.
- String Auditions will be held Wednesday, August 30, 2023 beginning at 7:15 p.m. in Corthell Concert Hall, Gorham campus.
- Wind, Brass and Percussion players should sign up for joint Concert Band auditions listed below.
Sign-up sheets to reserve a string audition time will be posted on the first floor of Corthell Hall after August 14, 2023.
The Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra is comprised of USM music majors, students from other disciplines and talented community players. The orchestra performs each semester, often in conjunction with USM Choral ensembles, Opera Workshop, USM composers, and with the winners of the Concerto/Aria competition. Covering a wide range of genres and styles, SMSO has performed intimate works from the chamber orchestra repertory of the Baroque to large-scale forces required to perform large Romantic and 20th Century works. In the past few years SMSO performed such varied works as: Corelli Concerto Grosso, Elgar Enigma Variations, Marquez Danzon #2, Price Three Dances in the Canebreaks, Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture, Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 and Wagner Siegrfried Idyll.
The orchestra is conducted by, Professor Robert Lehmann and rehearses Wednesday evenings from 7:15-9:45pm in Corthell Hall on the USM campus.
Contact: rlehmann@maine.edu
Please prepare a piece(s) that best demonstrate your ability to perform both fast/technical, as well as slow/lyrical music. This may be a piece that contains both or two different works or excerpts.
- Sight-reading may be required.
- Auditions are between 5 -10 minutes.
Students may enroll in MUS 402 (Undergrad) or MUS 502 (Graduate) to receive credit for University Concert Band.
Once accepted into the ensemble, it is expected that members will meet the required attendance and performance requirements.
Auditions will be:
- BRASS – Tuesday, August 29, 2023, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., 320 Corthell Hall
- WOODWINDS – Tuesday, August 29, 2023, 6:15 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Corthell Concert Hall
- PERCUSSION – Thursday, August 31, 2023, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., 320 Corthell Hall
Sign-up sheets to reserve an audition time will be posted on the first floor of Corthell Hall after August 14, 2023. Wind, brass or percussion players interested in participating in Orchestra should audition during the times listed above.
The University Concert Band is a wind and percussion ensemble directed by Will Kinne. The concert band is open to all University students through audition. The ensemble focuses on the fundamentals of ensemble performance dealing with a variety of literature, and performs at least one major concert per semester.
Contact: william.kinne@maine.edu
Detailed information and music for instrumental and vocal ensemble auditions will be posted on the Jazz Board (outside of Corthell 109E).
Charts and sign-up sheets will be available on the Jazz Board after August 21, 2023.
The Jazz Ensemble performs an eclectic mix of big band literature featuring music from libraries such as the Buddy Rich Big Band, the Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras as well as music written by jazz luminaries such as Bill Holman, Mary Lou Williams, Mike Stern, Ellen Rowe, and Craig Skeffington. The ensemble is directed by Chris Oberholtzer.
The Vocal Jazz Ensemble is directed by Amanda Roswick and performs as a large group, smaller chamber groups, and combos with a variety of soloists.
Contact: Chris.Oberholtzer@maine.edu
Auditionees will be asked to sing “The Water is Wide.” Follow these links for access to the sheet music and practice audio.
Each singer will be asked to sing a few vocalises (“warm-up” sequences) so that the directors can get a more thorough understanding of their ranges and tone qualities. Auditionees will also be asked to sing some short tonal memory exercises for which the director will play a series of 4 – 6 pitches and ask you to repeat them on your own. Students auditioning for Chamber Singers will also be given a short example to sightread. You will be emailed your fall semester audition placement results.
Please note that for the 2023-2024 season, Chorale will be voiced as an SSAA ensemble and Chamber Singers voiced as an SATB ensemble.
The choral audition form and choral audition time must both be completed to secure an audition for the USM Choral Ensembles. Details below.
Choral Audition Time: Auditions will be held on Monday, August 28 at 2 p.m. in the regularly scheduled rehearsal spaces.
Contact: mkaschub@maine.edu (Chorale) or scott.wheatley@maine.edu (Chamber Singers).
The University Chorale, an ensemble of music majors and other University students, performs a wide variety of music from all historical periods. The Chorale offers singers instruction that will enable them to sing a broad spectrum of choral music expressively and with musical understanding.
The USM Chamber Singers is an exceptional small choral ensemble of mixed voices, selected by audition, specializing in a cappella singing.
Students have further singing opportunities in Opera Workshop, and other small vocal ensembles. Members of the Chamber Singers principally sing a capella repertoire from the Renaissance and Twentieth Century and masterworks from the Classic Era. Singers in the Opera Workshop perform opera and musical comedy both in scenes and in fully staged productions jointly produced with the University Theatre Department.
For more information
Opera: Malinda Haslett, malinda.haslett@maine.edu
Musical Theatre: Ed Reichert, mailto:edward.reichert@maine.edu
For more information, contact usm.music@maine.edu or (207) 780-5265.