Vocal Auditions:
Kitka is Looking for New Singers
Kitka is seeking for new singers with strong, beautiful voices
and engaging stage presence. We are looking for women who are
adept at singing in both open/chest voice and head voice styles.
We are particularly seeking strong vocalists capable of singing
in a strident, high-ranged “Balkan style” quality.
Familiarity with Eastern European singing and language is preferred
but not necessary. Accurate intonation, rhythmic capability,
previous performance experience and strong ensemble singing
skills are essential.
Singing with Kitka is a musical adventure. We constantly strive for higher and higher standards of artistry and excellence. We perform exciting local concerts and tour throughout North America and travel to Eastern Europe. We teach vocal workshops, host regular master artist residencies to hone our vocal technique and language skills, and collaborate frequently with artists working in different musical traditions and performance media. We are currently venturing into vocal theatre and pushing our own personal and organizational creative boundaries. We record CDs and, occasionally, movie soundtracks. We have an amazing amount of fun singing together and audiences are moved to tears by our performances.
Interested? To be considered for an audition, please send us the following:
- Current resume or bio and letter of interest
- CD, Cassette, or MP3 File containing: One Balkan or other song in open/chest voice (if you don’t know what this means, ask us!)
- One song in head voice, any range with light or no vibrato
- Scales or other musical selection demonstrating your vocal range
Please label your recording with your name, email address and
phone number. If you would like your materials returned, please
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
MAIL YOUR LETTER, BIO, AND RECORDING TO:
KITKA AUDITIONS
1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Oakland, CA 94612
OR E-MAIL LETTER, BIO, AND MP3 FILES TO:
with KITKA AUDITION as the Subject
Audition materials are screened by Kitka's Music Director. Singers who pass the initial phase will be invited for a live audition. For more information about Kitka auditions and membership, call 510.444.0323, visit www.kitka.org/press/auditions.html, or email us at
About KITKA
Kitka is a professional vocal ensemble dedicated to producing
concerts, recordings, and educational programs that develop
new audiences for music rooted in Eastern European women’s
vocal traditions. Kitka also strives to expand the boundaries
of this music as an expressive art form. Kitka’s mission
is accomplished through an Oakland-based home series of concerts
and vocal workshops; regional, national, and international touring
programs; community service activities; in-school programs;
broadcasts; recording and publication projects; master artist
residencies; commissioning programs; and adventuresome collaborations.
Composed of women from diverse cultural and musical backgrounds
who share a passion for the stunning dissonances, assymetric
rhythms, intricate ornamentation, lush harmonies and resonant
strength of Balkan and Slavic women's vocal music, KITKA's repertoire
ranges from strident chants sung in the open-throated village
style to complex, contemporary choral works inspired by ancient
extended vocal techniques. KITKA's voices have been featured
on several major motion picture soundtracks, including Braveheart
and Jacob's Ladder. The group has also been featured in various
theatrical projects including Thomas Binkley's 1990 production
of Carmina Burana and the American Conservatory Theater's production
of Hecuba starring Olympia Dukakis. In 2005, KITKA premiered
its first new vocal theatre piece, The Rusalka Cycle and revised
and remounted it again in January 2008. This season, KITKA celebrates
its the release of Sanctuary: A Cathedral Concert, the ensemble's
eighth recording on their own Diaphonica label.
For more information, visit KITKA's homepage at http://www.kitka.org.
