Audition

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Auditions for The Falling and the Rising Military Chorus

Opera Memphis is auditioning veterans and active duty military personnel for the military chorus in The Falling and the Rising. To audition, please follow the instructions below by Sunday, April 9.

Description

The military chorus will sing 3 minutes of memorized music at the end of The Falling and the Rising. 

The Falling and the Rising, a new American opera, is the first co-commissioned opera between the U.S. Department of Defense and any professional opera company in the nation. This opera chronicles the imagined journey of a soldier suspended inside a coma after a roadside attack. We follow our soldier as she makes her way through a coma-induced dreamscape punctuated by powerful encounters with other fellow service members, each on the brink of discovery. Together, they must find clarity, consciousness, and communal hope inside a strange and ever-shifting universe. Created from compiled interviews from returning soldiers at Walter Reed National Medical Center, Arlington Cemetery, and Fort Meade, The Falling and the Rising is an inspirational story of service, sacrifice, and connection inside uncertainty. This operatic soldier’s odyssey was created to honor the indomitable spirit of our military veterans and to shed light on the power of their often overlooked stories. Conceived by Sgt. Ben Hilgert, music by Zach Redler, and words by Jerre Dye.

Audition Requirements

• NO OPERA EXPERIENCE OR FORMAL VOCAL TRAINING REQUIRED. You DO NOT need to be able to read music. 
• You DO need to love singing, and be interested in helping spread the stories of the fighting men and women whose lives inspired this opera.
• You must be an active service member or veteran to participate. All branches of the military are welcome.
• Must be able to attend all of the following rehearsals/performances:
  - One evening or weekend rehearsal in mid-April, date and time TBD.
  - Two evening rehearsals, two hours each, during the week of May 1st, dates and times TBD.
  - May 8 rehearsal, 7:00-11:00 PM
  - May 9 rehearsal, 7:00-11:00 PM
  - May 10 rehearsal, 7:00-11:00 PM
  - Performances on May 12 and May 13, 7:30 PM (call time TBD)

Any past and present armed service members will receive free tickets to the performances.

Audition Process (DEADLINE APRIL 9)

• To audition, please upload a recording of you singing something in English to a sharing service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). This does NOT need to be a professional recording- using your phone/computer to record is just fine.
• Recordings don't need to be long- about a minute is fine. You can sing just one verse and a chorus of a song, or something similar.
• Email us the LINK to your recording. Please don't send us the actual recording as an attachment.
• In your email, please include your contact info, including your name, phone number, email address, mailing address, and the branch of service you serve/have served in.
• Submit your audition to Opera Memphis to the email address linked here.

For any additional questions about the Falling and the Rising military chorus, please email us here.

Local Singer Auditions for the 2023-2024 Opera Memphis Season

Opera Memphis is looking for Mid-South singers of all levels and abilities for its upcoming season. Applicants must be 18+. 

Auditions will be in late August or early September 2023.  Dates will be posted once finalized.