Pagosa Springs Girls Choir auditions set for May 22

Posted
Photo courtesy Jeff Laydon
Pagosa Springs Girls Choir auditions will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on May 22 in the middle school band room for interested girls who will be in the fifth through eighth grades in the fall.

By Linda Parker

Special to The PREVIEW

Do you have a daughter who loves to sing? Maybe she has a great voice and doesn’t know it. Membership in the Pagosa Springs Girls Choir (PSGC) could be exactly what she needs to provide an outlet for performance while having the opportunity to study voice privately and to give her encouragement and confidence as a singer.

The PSGC will hold auditions for the 2017-2018 school year from 4 to 5 p.m. on May 22 in the Pagosa Springs Middle School choir room, located at 309 Lewis St. Auditions are open to any girl who will enter fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth grade next fall whether in public school, in a home-school program or who is enrolled in online classes.

Members of the current PSGC will be present at the audition to sing with auditioning girls.

“Our auditions are meant to be nonthreatening and even fun, but an audition can be a stressful experience. We’re hoping that having a buddy to sing with will help the girls feel more comfortable and give them confidence during the process,” said Director Linda Parker. “Girls planning to audition should prepare the song, ‘America’ (‘My Country ‘tis of Thee’) and be able to sing it by memory without accompaniment. They will also need to be prepared to match pitches and echo clap simple rhythm patterns.”

The 2017-2018 year will be a milestone year for the PSGC as its celebrates its fifth year of existence. The year will hold many special activities and events for the girls as they remember the past years and look forward to the future of the PSGC. What a great time for young girls in Pagosa to get involved in this very unique program.

Along with performance, the PSGC offers other opportunities for the members. Two vocal coaches provide private voice instruction during rehearsal time at no charge to the girls.

Additionally, girls are offered a summer educational trip to experience live performances of a specific genre of music each year. The trips are funded through the generosity of the Pagosa community and our fundraising efforts, so they come at a very small cost to the girls. Past trips have taken the girls to the Santa Fe opera, to Texas, to Vail, Colo., and this summer the girls are off to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Those planning to audition will need to obtain an audition packet. Packets for girls who are currently fourth-graders were sent home through the elementary school. Public school girls who are currently in the fifth, sixth or seventh grade can get a packet in the office at the middle school. Any girls who are home-schooled (or any girl who failed to get one at school) can obtain an audition packet on the PSGC website, www.singpagosa.org, or by calling Parker at 264-1434.

“There is an audition form in the packet and a $10 audition fee will be collected at the time of the audition,” Parker said. “If a participant is selected to be in the choir, the audition fee will be applied to the required $200 annual tuition.”

Parker added that the packet also contains a scholarship application to help pay tuition costs and payment plan options to help with individual financial situations throughout the year. No girl will be excluded because of financial reasons.

“Membership in the Pagosa Springs Girls Choir is a wonderful and unique opportunity for girls to learn about vocal and choral techniques and to learn and perform high-quality choral music in a variety of styles.” Parker said. “The girls are also introduced to choreography and props as part of their music training.”

For additional information about auditions and membership in the PSGC, call 264-1434 or email singpagosa@gmail.com.