Membership Manual

Membership Fees
Choir members pay annual dues which go toward expenses such as rehearsal hall rental, remuneration for the conductor and accompanist, music rental, and concert production costs. These fees cover less than 1/3 of our expenses!

Membership fees are $225 for the full year or $150 per session (Fall/Winter only or Winter/Spring only). Annual membership fees may be paid by cash, cheque or on line and are due by October 1. The Annual fee may also be paid in four equal instalments of $57, by post-dated cheque only. Seasonal fees are payable in full by cash or cheque and are due October 1 or February 1.

Volunteer Positions
The Choral Society needs everyone to help make our choir the best in the city! We need help – to organize social events, sell tickets, publicize concerts, maintain the music library, update the web site, raise funds and much, much more. Most positions only require a few minutes of your time, but make a huge difference to the choir, help you get to know your fellow members, and add to the satisfaction of working together.

Fundraising
Ticket sales and membership fees do not come close to covering our operating expenses. To produce high quality concerts of which we can be proud, we need to raise additional funds. We have internal fundraising activities and we solicit donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. We recognise donors in our concert programs and issue charitable donation receipts for income tax purposes.

Rehearsals
Rehearsals – Rehearsal are held every Wednesday at 7:30 at Eastminster United Church. It is important to attend rehearsals and be on time!

Sectionals – Sectionals are extra rehearsal sessions that offer extra practice on difficult passages. They are also a chance for you to ask for help with any music you’re finding challenging. Sectionals usually alternate weeks between male and female voices, and are held from 6:30 to 7:30.

Pencils – Always bring a pencil to rehearsals, and use it to note the conductor’s instructions in your score and to highlight difficult notes or passages for you to work on outside of rehearsal. Please mark your score only in light pencil – the librarians need to erase those marks after the concert!

Practice – We aim to achieve a high level of excellence at every performance, which means that it is necessary to work on the music between rehearsals; several short sessions a week are better than one long one. It can help to play your part on a piano or other instrument. Some people purchase a recording of major works the choir performs. This is a great way to get a sense for how the work should sound, and offers something to sing along with while practicing. Going over the music many times – and learning the words – helps you to know the music and increases your enjoyment!

Concerts
The TCS Choir presents at least two major concerts every year, in addition to participating in benefits and special events.

Tickets – It is essential that we sell tickets, not only to make our concerts a better experience for everyone, but to generate the revenue we need to make the choir a success! Therefore, every member is expected to sell six tickets to both our Christmas and Spring concerts.

Concert dress – Uniform concert dress enhances the professional appearance of the choir and helps the audience focus on listening to the performance without being distracted by individual attire. Women wear long black skirts with plain long-sleeved round-necked tops and minimal jewellery. Men wear black tuxedos with white shirts and black bow ties.

Concert etiquette – Seating for choir and guests is assigned well in advance in consultation with the Director. Directions for entering and exiting the stage are given by the stage manager prior too performances. Members are asked not to carry water bottles or other personal items on stage, not to talk during performances and not to wear scented products which might cause allergic reactions in other singers.

What’s going on?
You can easily find out about Choir events and news:

• The Chorister is our weekly newsletter. Most copies of The Chorister are distributed by email, but hard copies are available at each rehearsal;
• Bulletin Boards with news are on display at every rehearsal;
• Announcements are made at the break at every rehearsal;
• Our website, with our new members only section, is www.torontochoralsociety.org
• You can join our Facebook group, Toronto Choral Society;
• You can talk to your section rep or any Board member.

Dates to Remember:

• Wednesday, September 15, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
  First rehearsal!