FAQs

Yes, just come to the next Wednesday rehearsal and sing along or listen. It’s best to register here in advance. That way, the respective vocal leaders are informed and can welcome you in front of the rehearsal room.

No. An audition is not necessary to “get a taste”.

Yes. If you would like to stay, a short audition is helpful. You are then invited to sing a few notes to the choir director after rehearsal so that he can assign you to the appropriate voice group.

You have a basic knowledge of reading music.

There is no set probationary period. After about four to eight weeks at the latest, there is a short, compulsory entrance examination in which you sing from the work you are studying. The choir director, advised by members of the board and the respective voice leaders, decides as artistic director on your acceptance into the BOC. For the sake of simplicity, auditions in small circles are bundled together.

Yes, continuous and intensive rehearsal participation is desired. Therefore, an audition may be necessary before participation in the concert if you have not achieved a quota of 70 percent in the rehearsals. In other words, you have not been able to attend more than 30 percent of the rehearsals. (If you are unable to attend a rehearsal, you sign off with the respective vocal leader, who will keep track of your attendance.)

No, your age is not decisive. The only decisive factor for participation in rehearsals and concerts is your vocal and physical condition. This is because some of the works are very long and therefore involve long periods of standing, especially during the concert. Rehearsals, on the other hand, take place mainly in a seated position.

Every Wednesday from 6.30 to 7 pm there is voice training for one voice group at a time. You can find all voice training dates in our rehearsal schedule.
In order to keep an eye on the choir’s strengths and deficits and to be able to initiate the appropriate voice training activities as a whole, all members of the choir audition for the choir director at regular intervals (every four years). This is done in small groups.

Yes. Almost every work we rehearse has MP3 files for each individual voice group to rehearse on their own.

For quite a few works, the BOC has sheet music for the individual parts in its collection. In most cases, however, the board prepares an internal order. This makes it possible to order sheet music at a discount, which is often not insignificant.

Not necessarily. Many members of the choir speak other languages besides German – English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean – so you won’t get “lost” with us. However, German is spoken in the rehearsals. In order to understand the announcements of the choirmaster, you will have to build up a basic knowledge of German in the long run.

Our full rehearsals take place on Wednesdays from 7 to 9.15 pm in the Hochmeistersaal at Paulsborner Str. 86, 10709 Berlin. In addition, every Monday from 6 to 7.30 pm, there are alternating register rehearsals for soprano / alto or tenor / bass. All current rehearsal dates and changes at short notice can be found in our rehearsal schedule

This is desirable. We would like you to take a short entrance exam at the latest after two months of rehearsing together and then make the appropriate application for membership.

The membership fee is per calendar month of membership:

• 20 EUR for singing members from the age of 25
• for low-income earners the membership fee can be halved (see membership fee regulations)
• 5 EUR for singing members up to the age of 25

Yes. With the consent of the choir director, you can participate in a project without seeking permanent choir membership. The project fee is 20 EUR per calendar month. Please see our contribution rules for the exact conditions.

Resignation is effected by written declaration to the Board of Directors, giving six weeks’ notice to the end of the quarter.

The BOC’s repertoire consists mainly of large-scale choral symphonic works. You can see an excerpt of the choir’s repertoire here

The choir performs its own concerts at least twice a year in the Konzerthaus or the Philharmonie Berlin. In addition, some concerts may take place at the invitation of other organisers or partner choirs.

Our choir director and artistic director Thomas Hennig is also the conductor of our self-organised concerts.

The choir works with various orchestras, but almost exclusively with professional ones.

Yes. Over time, the choir has developed a whole set of performance rules that stem from a good choral tradition and serve the professional choral performance.

Tickets to our concerts can be purchased both internally (for members of the choir) and via sales portals such as Ticketmaster or Eventim as well as affiliated advance booking offices. This also includes the box office of the house where the concert takes place. Incidentally, there are still tickets available at the box office, even if the concert is marked as “sold out” at the official advance ticket outlets.

Both documents can be downloaded as PDF files from here: Constitution, Rules of Procedure.

You can find all board members on the contact page.

Yes, it is even desired. There are many activities in which we are always looking for helping hands and creative minds. This could be helping to prepare a concert or getting involved in working out long-term marketing strategies. If you would like to get involved here, feel free to speak to a board member you trust.