Columbia Chamber Choir

Columbia Chamber Choir, a subset of Columbia Chorale, is an auditioned mixed vocal ensemble, established to support the organization’s mission to promote high quality choral music to the region by performing repertoire more suitable for smaller numbers. Chamber Choir members must also participate in Columbia Chorale.

Chamber Choir Staff:

Emily Edgington Andrews, Conductor

Jeremy Wagner, Co-Conductor

Zack Kierstead, Pianist

Amanda Furtick, Adult Choirs Coordinator

Qualifications:

Since the demands placed on the singer are great, with much of the note learning occurring outside of weekly rehearsals, individuals must possess:

  • a high level of musical and vocal abilities
  • a diligent work ethic and ability to work well with others
  • extensive previous experience in ensemble singing

Audition Process:

Auditions will be held during a 15-min assigned time between 6:00-8:30 p.m. at Columbia College Practice Hall in Room 105. The audition will be a blind audition.

To audition:

Sign-up with an Adult Choir Coordinator at [email protected] or via the Columbia Chorale registration document. You will be emailed an audition time and number.

Auditions will consist of:

  • a portion of one prepared piece of your choice (1 minute maximum), preferably drawn from the art song, oratorio, opera, or folk song repertoire, or “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” Memorization is not required. An accompanist will be provided.
  • a sight-reading passage
  • vocal agility and ear-training exercises

Chamber Choir Session Fees:

Once selected, we ask that Chamber Choir members pay $50 to help offset the operational and music costs. We want Columbia Chorale and Columbia Chamber Choir to be an accessible option for all.  Several payment options are offered in order to best fit your needs.  Scholarship assistance is available upon request.

Personnel will be notified via email upon acceptance into the ensemble by Friday, September 8, 2023.

Rehearsal Location:

All rehearsals take place on Monday evenings at Brouder Science Center, Bixby Hall on the Columbia College campus https://www.ccis.edu/about/map#maptop

Rehearsals and Concert Commitments:
The first rehearsal is Monday, September 11, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Rehearsals will be held prior to Chorale rehearsals each Monday night from 6:00-6:45 p.m. (and then the times will extend as we near closer to the concert). A full Chamber schedule will be provided.

Session Dates
September 11, 2023-January 27, 2024

Songs of Children: A Holocaust Remembrance
Columbia Chamber Choir
7 p.m., January 27, 2024
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (105 Waugh St.)
In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Columbia Chamber Choir presents Songs of Children, a cantata composed by Robert Convery to honor the youngest victims of the Holocaust. Using poetry written by children interned at the Terezín Concentration Camp in the Czech Republic, Convery beautifully and achingly depicts the “spiritual transformation of a child,” from “the naïve state of entry into the concentration camp” to “the quick, brutal confrontation with the reality of the camp,” ending with the transcendent reality that “the soul cannot be harmed, though the body be humiliated, degraded and destroyed.”