Frequently-Asked Questions
St. Albert Singers Guild
https://stalbertsingers.org
Q – Do I need to audition?
A – No you don’t. One of our mandates is that we are open to anyone who wants to give it a try. Even better, you are encouraged to come to two “trial” rehearsals before you pay your fee. This gives you a chance to find out if this will be a happy fit for you! Check out our recordings and our DVDs to hear/see the results we get!
Q – Is there room in the choir and how do I reserve a spot?
A – We encourage all interested singers to please pre-register (see button on our website) with all your contact information in order to a) reserve a spot, b) receive important information and updates, and c) if you continue with us, it makes your life easy term after term to simply update/change your contact info as necessary
Q – Will I be obligated in any way if I pre-register?
A – No, not at all. If you decide not to continue simply let us know and we scrub all of your contact info off our files ensuring that you will not be contacted by us again.
Q – What time, day of the week and where do rehearsals take place?
A – Tuesday nights at the St Albert Catholic High School (see map on our website):
- St Albert Women’s Vocal Ensemble: 6:15 to 7:25 PM
- St Albert Singers: 7:30 to 9:30 PM
Sometimes the two choirs sing pieces together and must rehearse together. These joint rehearsal dates and times are announced near the beginning of each term.
Q – How much fundraising is there?
A – We try to keep our fundraising down to a bare minimum and present the fundraising opportunities as optional rather than mandatory. We understand that our world is constantly asking for more and more and while we attempt to present only a few fundraisers a year, we do hope that we get enough participation to meet our projected budgets. We believe that selling tickets to the concerts is our biggest and best fundraiser – a no brainer really!
Q – Will I need to do a lot of volunteering?
A – We offer a wide variety of ad hoc small volunteer opportunities throughout the term from helping to set up the stage, making props, painting backdrops, sewing costumes, helping to sell tickets at a concert, etc.
Q – How much does it cost? And what if I can only pay in installments?
A – We have a wonderful post-dated cheque option which means that as long as you write out cheques with the dates & amounts we have given you, you do not have to pay it out all at once. Our fees per choir are:
SAWVE: $135 per term, $235 full year Postdated cheque option:
- Full year payments: Oct. 1st: $120, Nov. 1st: $115
- Fall term only: Oct. 1st: $70, Nov. 1st: $65
- Spring term only: Feb. 1st: $70, Mar. 1st: $65
SAS: $150 per term, $290 full year Postdated cheque option:
- Full year payments: Oct. 1st: $145, Nov. 1st: $145
- Fall term only: Oct. 1st: $75, Nov. 1st: $75
- Spring term only: Feb. 1st: $75, Mar. 1st: $75
COSTUME/WARDROBE FEES
FORMALS
a) For existing female members, formals must be returned if you have missed two consecutive terms.
- b) For existing male members, formal shirts become their property.
- c) For new female members, a one-time costume fee of $100 willbe assessed and $50 will be refunded when costume is returned.
- d) For new male members, a one-time costume fee of $50 will beassessed and shirts will become their property.
BASIC BLACK
a) From time to time, alternative wear may be required.
b) For female singers, black long sleeved blouse or top with black
pants or long black skirt (possibly 3⁄4 length). Black closed in
shoes with either black or nightshade nylons.
c) For male singers, black choir shirt, black pants and black shoes
BLACK AND WHITE
a) Female members will wear either black pants or long black skirts with a long sleeved white blouse and black closed toe shoes and black nylons or knee highs.
b) Male members may be asked to wear either a white or black shirt or a tuxedo.
SCARVES AND TIES
a) The Guild may provide a theme scarf and or coloured tie de- pending on the occasion or to promote the season.
ADDITIONAL COSTUMES
a) From time to time singers may also appear in costumes. Singers will be informed at the beginning of the choir season what to prepare for.
Q – Are there any other requirements that I need to know about?
A – We expect our singers to listen to their rehearsal CDs (also downloadable from our website) in an effort to be prepared for each rehearsal. We encourage memorization of all music. We also expect that our singers will attend rehearsals, barring something unforeseen of course. In fact, if you need to miss more than 4 rehearsals, we encourage you to consider singing with us in a different term/year when you have more time to attend. Further to that, we do schedule three or four small appearances during the year, we often do one Saturday “workshop” day, an optional tour in the spring and final dress rehearsals – we expect our singers to attend. Finally, sometimes we are not able to access the school for certain rehearsals due to school events. Typically we try to find an alternate location so we can still hold a rehearsal. It is expected that all singers will make every effort to attend at the alternate location.