Monmouth Civic Chorus Announces 2024 Scholarship Auditions

(RED BANK, NJ) — Monmouth Civic Chorus has announced its annual scholarship auditions for vocally talented New Jersey high school seniors planning to pursue higher education. The auditions will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, beginning at 2:30pm at the United Methodist Church of Red Bank, 247 Broad Street, Red Bank, NJ. The application deadline is March 30.

Winners will be announced on April 6. There is a $10 application fee.

ELIGIBILITY: Candidates must be a resident of State of New Jersey and be a senior in high school and verify that he/she/they will pursue higher education next fall.

$3,400 in scholarship funds will be available to award to students of outstanding vocal promise. Contestants must perform two contrasting selections from the standard vocal repertoire (opera, operetta, art songs, oratorio, or Gilbert and Sullivan). It is preferred, though not required, that candidates present one selection in a language other than English. Musical theater selections are acceptable, but pop is not. Contestants will be judged on technique, choice of material, poise, and musicianship.

For complete details and to access the application form, click here.

Monmouth Civic Chorus has awarded more than $87,000 to 109 musically talented high-school seniors over 38 years.

The Chorus and the audition judges reserve the right to withhold the scholarship awards if no acceptable candidates perform for them. However, we have been pleased to contribute to the higher education of deserving area students every year since the institution of the scholarship program.

In 2023, four vocally talented students were awarded scholarships: Piper Doherty of Howell won First Place, Samuel Cusson of Middletown won Second Place, and Patrick Jordan Calderon of Boonton and Samantha Yannarelli of Atlantic Highlands tied for Third Place.

Anyone interested in donating to the MCC Scholarship Fund can make a donation online or call (732) 933-9333.

Monmouth Civic Chorus has been called “near-flawless”(Asbury Park Press),”alive and evocative” (The Star-Ledger) and “superior” (Red Bank Green). The Chorus is the proud recipient of the 2008 ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award, the 2010 Spinnaker Award for Arts and Culture from the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, and a third-place winner of the 2018-19 American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music.

Artistic Director Ryan James Brandau has broad experience conducting a variety of choral and orchestral ensembles. In addition to his work with Monmouth Civic Chorus, he serves as Artistic Director of Princeton Pro Musica and Amor Artis, a chamber choir and orchestra in New York City. He has also served on the faculty of Westminster Choir College, where he has worked with the Symphonic Choir, which he has prepared for performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony. He remains active as a choral arranger, composer, and clinician, whose arrangements and compositions have been featured by choral ensembles across the globe.

Ryan received the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Yale School of Music. Prior to pursuing graduate study in conducting, Ryan attended the University of Cambridge in the UK as a Gates Scholar, earning an M.Phil. in historical musicology. He received his B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University.