Join the South West Chamber Choir
Is SWCC for me?
We are keen to recruit a new wave of excellent singers and sightreaders and grow the chamber choir from around 20 singers to around 32.
Some singers join us from choral backgrounds and have really secure sightreading skills, which means rehearsals are efficient and we can focus on musicality and teamwork, but we also welcome singers with good voices who learn more by memorising, and we provide rehearsal tracks to work with at home. For the kinds of music we sing, see our Concerts page.
The choir learns their music and the interpretation in 8 rehearsals with the MD, leading up to a concert. Subscriptions are payable for each of these periods of 8 rehearsals and a concert ("a term"). It is possible to join for a specific term, although we encourage full-time membership. Subs change over time, so please ask about current rates.
We rehearse in the chapel at the University College of St Mark and St John (Marjon), Plymouth, on Wednesday nights, 7.15pm-8.45pm
For those who have time after a rehearsal, unwinding in the Jack Rabbit pub by Derriford Roundabout is a great way to work off a thirst and enjoy time in each other's company.
Our MD says, "I'm always excited to hear from a singer who wants to grow and who wants to be part of a team that's growing too. If you're interested but not sure if you're good enough, chance your arm, get in touch, come and sit in on a rehearsal. We'd love to hear from you!"
Next steps
1. Arrange to sit in on (or join in!) a rehearsal. Try it and see if you like it. Contact Mark Bennett at markbennett.swcc@gmail.com or 07999 560861
2. Fill in the Singer Questionnaire to tell our MD about your singing background.
3. Make a Voice Profile Recording so our MD can hear you. It's like an audition, but there's no pass or fail - it gives a picture of you as a singer and the role you might have in our choir. The MD can then get back to you about any vacancies.
This form needs you to log in with your Google account in order to make the upload. If that's not convenient, you can follow the instructions below and send your recording (or a link) to markbennett.swcc@gmail.com.
Click here to show/hide the instructions
South West Chamber Choir singer’s voice profile
To help the MD understand the role(s) your voice could have in our choir, please could you make a recording? Either audio or video is fine. Video helps the MD put faces to names, but may be too big for your email upload limit.
This doesn't need to be a high quality recording. A voice memo on a phone is fine.
Along with this recording, please send in answers to our Singer Questionnaire above. When the questionnaire and the recording have been received, you'll get a reply from the MD.
1 - Introduction
Please could you say your first and last name, so that I know who I’m listening to?
2 - Long notes
Sing three very long notes. I’ll time them.
- A quiet fairly low note to “oo”
- A medium volume mid-range note to “eh”
- A loud high note to “yah”
You’ve got three goes, so don’t worry if one or two of them fade away quite quickly. If you can normally hold notes for longer, just say so on the recording.
3 - Control of tone
Sing an easy mid-range note to “ah” mf four ways.
- Without vibrato
- With a regular vibrato
- With a dark sound (same pitch, same volume)
- With a light sound (same pitch, same volume)
If any of these are new sounds for you, you probably won’t be able to turn them on and off at will. Have a few goes if you want, but feel free to say on the recording that it’s new to you and move on.
4 - Glides to low notes
Start on a note in the lower part of your voice, then glide to the lowest note your voice will settle on that still has pitch.
- Sing to “la” mp.
- Stay on that note for a count of 4.
If it’s not what you normally regard as your lowest note, that’s fine: just say so on the recording. Feel free to do this more than once in the recording.
5 - Glides to high notes
Start on a note in the upper part of your voice, then glide to the highest note that you can hold without obvious effort.
- Sing to “la” mf.
- Stay on that note for a count of 4.
If your high note has obvious effort, feel free to have a few goes on the recording, but I’m really interested in the highest note that comes out with comfort and apparent ease. If it's not what you normally regard as your highest note, that’s fine: just say so on the recording.
Optional recording for soloists
If you have a recording of yourself singing solo, made in the last few years, that is a good representation of your current voice, please feel free to include it (or a link to it). This is an option if you would like to be considered for solos. It is not required for choral singers.
