(hopeful music) - Salt Lake Children's Choir is one of the finest ensembles of its kind in the nation, consisting of children between ages eight to 15 from Salt Lake Valley.

Here with more information about the fall auditions is founder, Ralph Woodward.

Hi Ralph, thanks for being back.

So talk a little about the purpose of the choir.

I mean, you've been around a while.

- Well, the number one purpose is to provide the children an avenue to sing correctly, so that they'll have a happy life of singing and not develop vocal problems.

Another thing is we want them to be acquainted with the best music available, music of the immortal masters, great classical and folk and popular music from around the world.

But also, I don't think there's a more beautiful sound on earth than children singing correctly.

- [Mary] Yeah.

- And so it's partially aesthetically rewarding for me also.

But education is really important to me, and to set them on a path of singing correctly and experiencing the beauty of great art is also very important.

- That's great.

And you're auditioning now?

- We are, and we're excited.

It's always energizing for me to see new children and hear, get acquainted with their excitement and exuberance and to hear them sing and set them on a course of happy singing.

So we are doing that.

The auditions, they're enjoyable.

We try to make it fun, relaxed.

They're scheduled individually, easy to schedule on our website, and it's always a fun thing for me to start up the year hearing new kids and even our former kids 'cause they have to sing again for us.

- I'm sure, I'm sure.

And what kind of time commitment is it for the kids?

- We only have one rehearsal a week, so it's easy for people to set it in their schedule.

We ask them to work on their music at home.

Everything is memorized.

And so it requires a little time at home, but it's kind of a homework thing.

And so we encourage that.

But they rise to the occasion and it's wonderful.

- Well, I'm glad you're doing it and thanks for being here.

- Thank you.

- And if you would like to know more about the upcoming auditions for the Salt Lake Children's Choir, the various times, just go online to sign up, childrensing.org, children sing.org.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching "Contact".

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