Vocal Auditions:
Kitka is Looking for New Singers
Kitka has two openings 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 "pure" (light vibrato) 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:
1. Current resume or bio and letter of interest
2. 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!)
3. One song in "pure" head voice (light or no vibrato)
4. 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: info@kitka.org with KITKA AUDITION as the subject line
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 info@kitka.org
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 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
www.kitka.org