Join/Auditions

Auditions for our 2025-2026 season:

Two Thursdays: August 21st and 28th, 7 p.m., at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church.
To be considered for an in-person audition, please fill out the form below:

Tactus SF Singer Application Form
(Refer to instructions below)

Do you enjoy performing Renaissance music in a chamber setting? Are you seeking to develop your sight-singing, musicianship, musical leadership, and solo singing, while making lasting friendships with fellow musicians? If so, Tactus may be a good fit for you!

We sing year-round! Rehearsals are most Thursdays 7:00-9:30 pm at St Matthew’s Lutheran Church,
3281 16th St, San Francisco, CA. We also have occasional East Bay rehearsals, typically on a Saturday afternoon. Contact us for the full rehearsal schedule for this season.
Tactus SF is a donation-run organization. Singers are encouraged to contribute $120 per concert set to help cover operating costs of rehearsal and concert venue rentals and a paid music director. No singer is turned away due to lack of funds.

Please fill out the Singer Application Form (instructions below) and we will contact you with more information.

We are looking for 24 well-balanced voices to commit to being part of the core ensemble for all three concert sets in our 10th anniversary season, which will feature Prophetiae Sibyllarum (Lassus), Vom Himmel hoch for double choir (M. Praetorius), and works by Victoria, Guerrero, Vasquez, Josquin, Isaac, Tallis, Byrd, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Lechner, Lotti, and Laskar.

For this season, we may also be accepting auditors (i.e. those who are unable to perform in the concerts but would like to participate in the rehearsal process), and/or alternates (those who are not able to attend required rehearsals but may be called upon to perform in the event of an unexpected vacancy). So no matter your skill level or availability, we might just have a place for you!

Please submit your audition form (with a link to your recording) by August 19th at 11:59 p.m.

Part 1
Please record a single video (nothing fancy—on your phone or webcam is fine) with the following selections (all relevant scores are in this Audition Materials folder):
1. scales and arpeggios demonstrating your vocal range
2. Amarilli mia bella (Caccini)
3. Unquiet Thoughts (Dowland)

For scales and arpeggios, choose one option that best demonstrates your vocal range, transposing if necessary. You may sing on /a/ or any other vowel or combination of vowels.

For Amarilli, please perform with one of the following recorded accompaniments:

Please perform Unquiet Thoughts without accompaniment—verse one only, with repeat.

In Part 1 of the audition, Sven will be looking for:

  • ability to keep time (rhythmic accuracy)
  • accurate intonation (singing in tune)
  • appropriate vocal range for desired part assignments
  • a pleasant vocal tone
  • dynamic range (in general, a slight crescendo and decrescendo on each phrase)

A pleasant vocal tone is well-balanced:

  • neither too bright (strident, shrill) nor too dark (dull, woofy)
  • neither too breathy nor too pressed
  • a vibrato that is neither too wide/slow (wobble) nor too narrow/fast (bleat)
  • neither too loud nor too soft
  • consistent from low to high

Part 2
In-person auditions will be held at St. Matthew Lutheran, SF on Thursday August 21 or August 28 from 7–9:30 pm for all returning Tactus members (i.e. those who sang at least one concert set in the 24/25 season) and by invitation only on a space-available basis for those who did not sing with us last season. We do anticipate having openings for all voice parts.

This part of the audition will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your ensemble skills by singing one voice per part on a prepared piece (Unquiet Thoughts) and a sight singing selection.

Excerpt from our fall 2024 concert:

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