Akron Symphony Chorus - Akron Symphony Orchestra

Akron Symphony Chorus

Auditions for the 2024-25 Season

The Akron Symphony Chorus and Chorus Director Chris Albanese will hold auditions for new members for the 2024-25 season on August 5-7 at Faith Lutheran Church, Fairlawn. Auditions are by appointment only.

The upcoming season for the Akron Symphony Chorus includes (amongst others) performances with the Akron Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and Mozart Mass in C minor “Great.”

VOCAL PLACEMENT

New Member instructions:

  1. Choral excerpt: 
  • Sing your part of the attached excerpt (“And the Glory of the Lord” from Handel’s Messiah)
  • Please use the edition attache. A copy will be available at your audition
  • An accompanist will be provided.
  1. Vocalize:
  • We will conduct a brief range check to determine your section placement.
  1. Pitch recognition:
  • A series of pitch patterns will be played and you will be asked to repeat them.
RETURNING MEMBER INSTRUCTIONS:
  1. Vocalize:
  • We will conduct a brief range check to determine your section placement.
 

Schedule an Audition

To schedule an audition, or for more information, please contact Brenda Justice, Coordinator of Choral Programs, by phone at 330.535.8131 or by email at bjustice@akronsymphony.org.

About the Chorus

At nearly 100 members, the Akron Symphony Chorus is dedicated to achieving the highest level of choral singing. Its volunteer singers represent all walks of life from our Akron community and surrounding areas. The Chorus is an indispensable part of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and along with the Orchestra and the Akron Youth Symphony, functions as part of the Greater Akron Musical Association.

The Akron Symphony Choral Society, as it was first known, began rehearsals in the fall of 1956. The first performance was Brahms’ German Requiem on April 17, 1957, under the direction of Robert Shaw. In the years to follow, the renamed Akron Symphony Chorus performed much of the major choral repertoire of the last six centuries, as well as several regional first performances and world premieres.

Highlights have included Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake featuring world-famous actress and dancer Vera Zorina, and in recent years, Mozart’s Coronation Mass with guest conductor Jeannette Sorrell, Handel’s Messiah directed by James Mismas, and an all Brahms program conducted by Grammy and Emmy award-winning guest conductor Vance George, retired choral director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. In 2007, the chorus performed Verdi’s La Traviata, conducted by Christopher Wilkins.