1
Dear Students,
Greetings! As directors of the choral groups of the Department of Music and Campus Ministry, we invite you to join hundreds of other singers in making our choirs part of your Notre Dame experience. As a participant in this rich musical tradition you will find artistic fulfillment and kindle lifelong friendships. You will find descriptions of each of our choirs below.
Please contact us at the e-mail addresses below if you have any questions about our groups - additionally, we'll be holding in-person auditions for the Spring semester on Saturday, December 9th. Sign up for a time here or walk in anytime between 11am-2pm.
Again, we welcome you to the Notre Dame family, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Directors
Alexander Blachly, Notre Dame Chorale (ablachly@nd.edu)
Jonathan Hehn, Notre Dame Basilica Schola (jhehn@nd.edu)
Patrick Kronner, Notre Dame Magnificat Choir (pkronner@nd.edu)
Andrew McShane, Notre Dame Liturgical Choir (amcshane@nd.edu)
Daniel Stowe, Notre Dame Men’s Glee Club (dstowe@nd.edu)
J.J. Wright, Notre Dame Folk Choir (jwright9@nd.edu)
Voices of Faith Gospel Choir (voices@nd.edu)
Benito Salazar, Coro Primavera de Nuestra Señora (bsalaza1@nd.edu)
Student Representatives
Notre Dame Folk Choir: Meg Beuter, President mbeuter@nd.edu
Notre Dame Basilica Schola: Halle McGuire Hobbins hallemcguire@gmail.com
Notre Dame Men’s Glee Club: Co-Presidents; Joe Golden, jgolden3@nd.edu and Jack Schadl, jschadl@nd.edu
Notre Dame Liturgical Choir: Sydney Coil, President scoil@nd.edu
Voices of Faith Gospel Choir: Lucy Bullock, President lbulloc2@nd.edu
Notre Dame Magnificat Choir: Hannah Schmitz, President hschmitz@nd.edu
Notre Dame Chorale: Anna Gazewood, President agazewoo@nd.edu
Choirs of the Department of Music and Campus Ministry
The Notre Dame Basilica Schola specializes in unaccompanied choral music, with a special focus on Renaissance polyphony. The choir comprises around sixteen singers drawn from the faculty, staff, students, and other members of the University community. They are directed by Dr. Jonathan Hehn, OSL. Former directors have included Dr. Andrew J. McShane and founding director, Dr. Gail L. Walton. The choir's core identity is as a liturgical ensemble that calls the Basilica of Sacred Heart its home. In addition to regularly singing for Sunday evening Vespers in the Basilica, the choir also sings periodically for Masses and other special services during the academic year at Notre Dame. The choir holds auditions and welcomes some new members each year.
The Notre Dame Chorale, founded in 1974, presents the great concert choral repertoire in concerts in Notre Dame’s concert hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and on domestic tours each January and international tours every three to four years. Membership is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Notre Dame. Led by director Alexander Blachly, the 70-voice mixed ensemble performs music from the Renaissance to the present. Every December the Chorale presents Handel’s Messiah with the Festival Baroque Orchestra on two nights in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Since 1997 the Chorale has toured throughout the United States, including Hawaii, and internationally in Italy, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Ireland.
The Notre Dame Men’s Glee Club, founded in 1915, presents a wide-ranging repertory in several formal concerts each academic year on campus and on tour, as well as in dozens of informal performances at University events. As specialists in a cappella music for men’s voices, their concert programs customarily include works in various classical genres as well as folk songs, African-American spirituals, barbershop arrangements, and songs of Notre Dame. Directed by Daniel Stowe, the Glee Club draws its membership from all fields of study at the university. The 65-voice ensemble tours domestically twice each year and internationally every other year; they have performed in over 40 U.S. states and in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. This December they will also present Christmas concerts with the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra on tour from Chicago to New York, including at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
The Notre Dame Liturgical Choir was founded in 1973 and is composed of approximately 70 singers drawn from all areas of the undergraduate and graduate student body. The Choir’s main purpose is to provide musical leadership at the 10 AM Solemn Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, a French Gothic structure built in 1871 by University founder Fr. Edward Sorin. The Sunday Mass at 10 AM (Eastern time) is televised weekly on CatholicTV. Membership in the Liturgical Choir is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Notre Dame. Led by director Dr. Andrew McShane, and assisted by Dr. Jonathan Hehn, the choir performs a repertoire drawn on the diverse traditions of a cappella and accompanied sacred music from the Renaissance through the twentieth century. In recognition of the Liturgical Choir’s special ministry to the Notre Dame community, Pope John Paul II extended his apostolic blessing upon the Choir in 1989.
The Notre Dame Magnificat Choir is comprised of singers from various academic and faith backgrounds who primarily serve as musicians at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The choir is inclusive, welcoming, and open to all Notre Dame, St. Mary’s, and Holy Cross students who sing in the treble range. The choir performs chants, newly commissioned works, and other sacred music from various eras and cultures in both Masses and concerts. This academic year the choir will be traveling on tour to Arizona. The choir strives to build upon the rich musical traditions of the Church, to uplift women’s voices, and to serve the community as the hands and feet of Christ.
The Notre Dame Folk Choir explores and celebrates sacred music from diverse traditions, including Catholic hymns, contemporary jazz and gospel, and Irish folk tunes. Our central responsibility is to provide liturgical music for the 12pm Mass community in the Basilica on Sundays and Holy Days during the academic year. The choir has recorded 12 albums and toured 5 continents in its 40 year history, and has most recently traveled to East Africa and Israel for international tours and recordings.
Voices of Faith Gospel Choir was founded in 1977 as a faith led student-run organization of approximately 35 members. The choir is diverse in faith and heritage but we sing as one to praise the Lord. Voices is a group for anyone who is looking to deepen his or her faith in God or looking to learn more about Gospel music and the effect it can have on its listeners.
Coro Primavera de Nuestra Señora’s main purpose is to provide liturgical music for Sunday Spanish Mass. Throughout the academic year, Coro participates in celebration masses and events including, but not limited to, Virgen de Guadalupe and Dia de los Muertos. The choir, led by Director Benito Salazar, is inclusive, welcoming, and open to all Notre Dame, St. Mary’s, and Holy Cross students who are wanting to sing in Spanish. We also invite those who play guitar and/or percussion to join the Coro Familia as well.
Audition Instructions
We are pleased to offer the ability to audition for our choirs virtually and in-person - please follow the instructions below.
In-Person Auditions
General auditions for University choirs are closed for the academic year, but the Basilica Choirs will hold auditions for the Spring 2024 semester on Saturday, December 9th. Please click THIS LINK to schedule an in-person audition.
Virtual Auditions
The audition will take about 5 minutes to complete. You must complete the audition in one sitting and submit a single video file of your entire audition.
This audition consists of four sections: a warm up exercise, singing the hymn Amazing Grace, an ear training exercise, and finally a short sight-reading example. Please ensure that you have a device to record audio and video -- a smartphone will work perfectly -- and that your upper body and face are in the frame.
Once you have finished recording your audition, please fill out the virtual auditions form and attach your video directly within the form at the bottom.