Bridge Town Sound - a Portland Men's Chorus
Sing With Us
The rehearsals of Bridge Town Sound compose the greater part of the weekly chapter meetings of the Portland Metro chapter, and are held on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:30 pm. All guests are welcome, whether they desire to sing with us or not. If you come to visit us and desire to sing, you will be loaned a Guest Book with all the sheet music in it. You may choose whether to sing tenor, lead, baritone, or bass, although lead is the part that is recommended for novices, as it has the melody most of the time.
Most of the rehearsal is taken up with singing on the risers as a chorus and receiving instruction from our fine director, John Burri. But the typical rehearsal also includes a variety of other settings including sectional rehearsals and tag-singing in quartets. Sometimes a visiting quartet comes in to entertain us. If you have directing skill, you're likely to be invited to lead the chorus in "Keep the Whole World Singing" at the end of the rehearsal.
The location of the rehearsals is the downstairs auditorium of the Holladay Park Church of God at 2120 NE Tillamook St., Portland, Oregon 97212. To get there, take Hwy I-5 to the north side of Portland, and take the exit that says Lloyd Center/Rose Quarter. Take Weidler Street east until you come to 21st Ave. Turn left on 21st and follow it about three blocks to the end, where you will find the church on your right. Turn right, and right again into the parking lot. Then take the outdoor stairs down to a hallway that will lead to the rehearsal auditorium.
As you enter the auditorium, you will be greeted by a member of the chorus at the guest table. He will welcome you, issue you a guest book, answer any questions you may have, and help you find a place on the risers. You will be invited to sing most of the songs along with us, and you will be acknowledged, along with the other guests, early in the rehearsal.
If, after visiting a couple of rehearsals, you decide that you're interested in becoming a member of the group on an ongoing basis, our Chapter Development Vice President will provide you with all the information about the chapter and the Society, along with information about costs, benefits, and auditioning. You don't need to be an outstanding singer (although it helps), and you don't need to be able to read music (although it helps, and we'll try to give you opportunities to develop that skill).
If you decide to join us (and we hope that you do), we will schedule an audition for you with our director, probably before a rehearsal. He will ask you to match a pitch that he sings or plays, give you a chance to demonstrate the extent of your range, and ask you to sing a few phrases of a song of your choosing. You may also be asked to improvise a harmony of a familiar song. The final part of the audition, which can be done at a later time, consists of learning a song on your own (with the help of learning materials that we provide), and singing it in a quartet with three of our members. You don't need to sing it perfectly (but it helps), we only want to get an idea of how well you can learn music and how independently you can sing your part.