AUDITIONS ARE NOW OPEN

Thanks for your interest in the 18th Street Singers! Auditions are now OPEN for our 2025/26 season!

Please see below for our virtual (round one) audition process. Audition recordings are due Saturday, July 19th at 8:00pm ET to be considered for the upcoming season.

Virtual Audition Process

Even though first round is virtual, we want to recreate a typical in-person audition as much as possible, so we are asking all auditioners submit a video recording of themselves singing along to a downloadable track according to the following steps:

  1. Download the two files below:

  2. Learn whatever voice part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) of "I Will Lift Mine Eyes" you're comfortable with. You don't have to spend hours and hours practicing, nor do you have to memorize it -- we just want you to learn the piece so that you're comfortable and confident singing your part while the singers on the recording sing the other parts.

  3. Next, prepare a short solo (1-2 minute(s)) in any genre, unaccompanied that you can sing during the final portion of the audition track (there will be a prompt in the backing track you will sing along to).

  4. When you’re ready to record, set up in a quiet place and get ready to make a video recording on a smartphone using your phone’s video feature. Have another device (computer, laptop, phone, etc.) nearby, ready to play the audio backing track. Make sure you're visible in the video! We suggest not using ear buds (they can throw off your sense of how loud you are on the recording!) and — if at all possible — finding a space to record where you can sing freely.

  5. Start recording & press play on the auditions track! Make sure it's playing loudly enough (or close enough to the phone that's recording) that you can hear it, and the video's listeners will be able to hear it as well. Don't worry about perfect audio/video quality.

  6. In one continuous take, introduce yourself, sing along to the range exercises, to "I Will Lift Mine Eyes," and close with a short solo (1-2 minute(s)) in any genre, unaccompanied. Please do not make any edits to your video, or stop and start your video in between sections of the auditions so that it is as close to an in-person audition experience as possible.

  7. When you have finished your solo, stop the recording. Check your video to make sure the recording worked!

  8. Email the file with your name and preferred voice part (e.g., B2, A2, T1) to auditions@18thstreetsingers.com or upload it to our Dropbox (and then send us an email letting us know). Please don’t forget to send us an email so we have your contact info!

  9. Audition videos are due Saturday, July 19th at 8:00pm ET to be considered for this upcoming season.

Also, please note that in-person callbacks for this audition cycle will be held the week of July 26th. If you will be out of town during that time, please let us know in your submission email so that we are aware of your schedule, should you be invited to the callback round.

If you have questions or any technical issues, email us at auditions@18thstreetsingers.com. We can’t wait to eMeet you!

18SS Auditionee 101

About YOU

You are a passionate singer with a lovely voice, great intonation, and a strong musical sense, and you love the prospect of making music with a diverse and tightly-knit community of singers living in (or near) Washington, DC.

You can confidently hold your own part, even when you're the only person singing it. You take full responsibility for learning your music, by sight-reading or by putting in enough time before rehearsals to learn a complicated part. While the rare work or family commitment might mean missing a Monday night rehearsal or two over the course of a season, you are committed to being present each week.

You enjoy singing music from the Renaissance to music just being penned today, music from different cultures and with different viewpoints, and even music on the radio. You're excited to bring the same level of dedication to genres you love and genres you've never sung before.

About US

We are committed to musical excellence and using a fresh and more accessible take on choral music to bring it to a wider and younger audience. At the same time, we're dedicated to being a supportive community and "urban family" for our members, who come from all walks of life and are all cherished friends and colleagues.

We seek to program concerts that move our members and our audiences by unabashedly mixing the best of genres. We sing music that you think of as "traditional" choral music, we find lesser-known gems, and we prioritize amplifying the voices, composers, and themes that are often missing at classical music concerts.

We are an all-volunteer organization (including all artistic and management positions), but many of our members have studied music professionally or are paid singers in other ensembles. Our members come from many backgrounds: some of us have sung our entire lives in church or temple choirs, some were in high school and collegiate a cappella groups, and others have sung in glee clubs and choirs. We rehearse weekly on Monday nights, near Judiciary Square Metro.