St Albans Cathedral Girls Choir

[Sampford]

Hello.
Does anyone have any experience of auditioning for the St Albans Cathedral Girls choir? They audition girls in Year 3 and my daughter really wants to have a go. She has a date for the audition at the end of this month but I wondered if anyone knew how difficult it was to get in or how intimidating it might be. I'm all for my daughter having a go but also want to manage her expectations in case she doesn't get in.
In my head it's a massive long shot because I'm assuming the standard required is incredibly high having heard them sing! DD loves singing and will be fine singing a song for them but I'm not sure how well she will get on with the aural stuff e.g. singing back a melody or picking out notes in a chord. We've done some practise and sometimes she's fine and other times not.
A bit of a rambling message I know but if anyone has any experience of auditioning for this choir it would be great to hear.
Thanks.

I don't have specific experience of that wonderful choir, but I can give you some general pointers. First and foremost, they will be looking for potential, so don't worry if your DD isn't the finished article. They will be looking for a sparky and enthusiastic personality, so encourage your DD to emphasise this. Pitch matching is very important, so it's good that you're practising the aural tests- little and often will make a huge difference. Has she prepared a song and if so, what is it? A hymn is often a good opportunity to show a clear and pure sound.

A couple of points specific to the current situation: presumably it is a Zoom audition (or similar), so do lots of practice of singing/chatting on video calls (with grandparents/whoever)). If your DD is comfortable in this medium, it will set her apart from other children who may flounder. Also, Cathedral Choirs are struggling at the moment and it may be a bit easier to gain a place than usual.

If they interview you or have you involved in the call, show that you're 100% committed to your DD being involved next term in whichever way the choir requires, whether it's the usual mix of before and after school rehearsals, or Zoom rehearsals (if still necessary), or a mixture.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask- I work in this field. Good luck to your DD- I've got a couple of recordings by the St Alban's girls and they are sublime!

Also, it shouldn't be intimidating as they will want to put your DD at ease so she can give of her best.

Thanks so much for all the advice @FranKatzenjammer. We definitely need to practise the aural tests - do you have any advice about the best way to do that? We don't have a piano at home so I've downloaded the ABRSM aural app. The trouble is it doesn't seem to have many examples of the echo tests to practice singing back - we've found about 5 ones that seem to get recycled frequently! I also understand we probably need to practise singing different notes of chords but again, I'm piano-less. We've tried using the chords that they play on the app at the beginning of the echo tests but there's no way of verifying whether she's right or not because we can't play the notes separately. Any advice about apps etc that might help would be amazing.
Also is the aural stuff something you can get better at or is it one of those things that you can either do or not do? Some days DD seems to be able to do it without any hassle and other days its the absolute opposite! Are there any tips and tricks you can learn to make it easier?
Thanks again for all the advice. I have a sense that, if the aural stuff is difficult, it probably means you don't quite have the innate musicality needed for this type of choir but I'd still like her to be able to do her best and then she feels good about the experience. It's all learning after all.
PS No interview for parents luckily but we're well aware of the amount of work involved and happy to do that if it's what DD wants.

I should have said she has chosen to sing her favourite hymn from school (not sure of the name but it starts 'I will bring to you the best gift I can offer'). She didn't want to do any of the pieces she sang back in March for her Grade 1 exam because she didn't like them as much. I figured it's better for her to sing something she genuinely loves and will hopefully show her enthusiasm plus it is a lovely hymn!

I'm not sure about apps, but there are some music aptitude tests on YouTube which would help with practising chords (that section is usually called texture). Often it is counting the number of notes rather than singing, but it all helps with aural perception and you could always pause the video and ask DD to try and sing them. Aural is something that some people are naturally good at, but lots of children find chords difficult and practice really helps. Are your DD's singing lessons continuing online? If so, perhaps you could ask the teacher to focus on aural for a few weeks. Explain what it required though, as the ABRSM tests are rather different.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the help @FranKatzenjammer. DD had the audition today and was offered a place. One very happy little girl here! You recommendation for the aural practise on YouTube was really helpful. Thanks again!

That's excellent news- congratulations to your DD!