FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Tell me about the choirs at Princeton!

There are several choirs at Princeton with a variety of sizes, purposes, and organizing groups. This website is primarily about the Glee Club, the Music Department’s 90-person choir, but see this page for more information about auditions and other choirs at Princeton.

What is the time commitment of Glee? Can it be balanced with other groups and activities?

Glee rehearses for roughly 5-6 hours each week, and Chamber Choir rehearses for roughly 1-3 hours each week. During the week leading up to a concert, there is usually a greater time commitment, but many Glee members participate in other musical groups, such as Chapel Choir, a cappella groups, musical theater groups, and Sinfonia, as well as many nonmusical groups.

When does Glee go on tour? What are they like?

Glee Club tours every other year, typically over the one-week intersession between fall reading period and the start of spring semester. Visit this page learn more about our tours, including our most recent tour to the Balkans over spring break 2023!

What is the Certificate Program in Music Performance?

This is a two-year certificate program, a bit like a ‘minor’, which allows you to focus a portion of your upperclass years on performance. Your voice lessons are all paid for, you get Summer study stipends, recording studio time, a fully-serviced Senior Recital with digital video. Many of our best instrumentalists and vocalists do this program before entering Conservatory for graduate school.

And what about Chamber Music?

We run a full program of vocal chamber music courses, including classes on vocal consort singing, baroque solo cantatas, lieder singing and opera scenes. There are several of these each year.

Can I get information about a cappella groups?

Yes! The student-run a cappella scene here is extraordinary. There are more than a dozen groups here, and there’s lots of information available here.

Is there a study abroad program tailored for vocalists?

Yes! We have an exchange program with the Royal College of Music in London which allows our best singers to go to London for a semester to study in a Conservatory setting. There is an audition for this program, and you would typically do this in the first semester of your junior year. You do not need to be a member of the Certificate Program to enter this study abroad program.

Voice lessons

Members of the Glee Club and all of our faculty-led choral ensembles at Princeton are eligible for subsidized studio voice lessons. Here are some useful links:
- Studio Lessons
- Voice Faculty