Auditions
FALL 2026 POMONA COLLEGE CHOIR AUDITIONS (MUS 31)
Sign up for a Fall 2026 audition.
Membership in the Choir and the Glee Club is open to all students enrolled at any of the Claremont Colleges or Claremont Graduate University by audition. Except when studying abroad, members of the Glee Club are required to be active, reliable, and strong members of the Choir or the College Orchestra for both semesters.
Pomona College Choir
The audition for the Choir is relatively light, consisting of various exercises to determine voice range and pitch memory. There is also a bit of sight-reading, though nothing too strenuous. Auditions for this ensemble are held in the first week of classes each fall. Interested students should sign up for an audition slot via the link at the top of this page (available in late July). With few exceptions (such as study abroad), students selected for the Choir should expect to participate for the full academic year; students gain most by participating for four years. Those hoping to join in the spring term should contact Professor Di Grazia no later than December 1st of the preceding fall term.
Pomona College Glee Club
Auditions for the Glee Club are held in the first week of the spring semester; expectations and specific dates are announced in late October or early November. In addition to demonstrating strong skills during the Pomona College Choir audition, Glee Club auditionees are expected to learn their part for the assigned audition piece (distributed a few days ahead of time) and to sing it in a quartet with three other singers, each of whom sings a different part. Successful Glee Club auditionees are strong musicians who have shown an ability to learn a great deal of music quickly, and who have demonstrated their readiness to work within a small ensemble, where blend and musical sensitivity are essential. All members of the Pomona College Choir are encouraged to audition for the Glee Club regardless of class standing.
Why should you be part of the Choir and/or Glee Club?
College offers many opportunities and you will have to choose carefully among them. Here are some of the many reasons why singing in one of Pomona’s curricular choral ensembles is worth prioritizing:
- To broaden your education by tapping into your creative spirit. This is at the heart of a liberal arts education.
- To reap the health benefits of singing. Numerous studies in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and other disciplines highlight music for the positive effects it has on its participants. Research has shown that choral singing in particular can reduce stress and depression, strengthen social connections, and improve one’s overall well-being.
- To enrich the cultural life on campus and in the community. Singing in the Choir and Glee Club offers a unique and meaningful form of community outreach. Every performance provides an opportunity to make wonderful music available to anyone who wishes to hear it, bringing people together from across the Claremont Colleges Consortium as well as from Claremont, Pomona, and surrounding communities. The impact you have is often unseen, but it can be powerful and positive for those who hear and watch you perform.
- To further develop interpersonal and professional skills that are important for a successful life. Among these skills are the ability to listen deeply, to use your imagination to solve problems, to communicate with others, to focus, to make decisions, and to work as part of a team. Employers and graduate/professional schools (including medical and law schools) look for people who have developed these skills; personal relationships also benefit from having strengths in these areas.
- To sing intellectually challenging works of art at a high, creatively satisfying level. Once you graduate, it may not be easy or practical to find similar opportunities to sing intellectually challenging music. Intellectual engagement with the performing and visual arts is an important part of a well-rounded liberal arts experience.
- To engage creatively with music. Singing with the Choir and Glee Club provides opportunities to discover music that is new to you or to consider familiar music in a new way. This is one of the central reasons you’re coming to a liberal arts college: to explore things you don’t yet know. There is no better way to learn than by engaging with art from the inside. As a performer, you become part of the creative process, helping to shape the way listeners experience a work of art.
- To meet fun, interesting people who share your love of singing. Some of them may become lifelong friends.
- To refine your musical skills in preparation for avocational (or professional) musical opportunities after college. Alumni frequently tell me their Pomona curricular choral experiences enabled them to continue making music throughout their lives. Many sing in local community or church choirs; a significant number of them sing professionally.