Q: What’s all this, then?

The Other Reindeer are professional holiday carolers in beautiful Dickensian costumes (usually, sometimes other costumes) who not only sing, but also interact with and delight audiences of all ages. We perform a cappella 4-part holiday music in SATB quartets (sometimes trios or octets, but usually quartets). We have been in business since 2009, and typically book 150-200 gigs per season. Most of those bookings are in the Los Angeles Area, but we also book gigs in Denver, New York, and of course the San Francisco Bay Area. In the 2023 season, we booked 21 gigs in the Bay Area, and we could have booked more but we had a very small roster - we would love to expand the roster and book more gigs for all of us in 2024!

Traits I look for in Christmas Carolers:

• Cheerful, entertaining performers
• Beautiful, loud voices with easily suppressed vibrato
• Experienced ensemble singers (experienced at singing a part by themselves)
• Excellent pitch
• Ability to sing jazz harmony
• Excellent communication skills (responds to most texts & emails within a few hours)
• Ability to read music
• Willingness and opportunity to practice music
• Stylistically versatile (classical, pop, jazz, Broadway)
• Has most weekends and evenings between Thanksgiving and Christmas available
• Reliable transportation

The Other Reindeer perform with a “contemporary a cappella” sound. This means some voices may not be a good fit for us, regardless of musicianship or professional experience.

Rehearsals are generally not paid, performances are ALWAYS paid.

Q: How Much Do You Pay?

Generally, I pay as follows (per singer):

$80 - 95 for a 30-minute gig

$95 - 115   for   1-hour gig

$130 - 150   for   2-hour gig

$160 - 180   for   3-hour gig

$190 - 230   for   4-hour gig

Gigs involving travel and/or filming can sometimes pay more.

Some of the price differences may be based on what kind of costuming is involved, how hard it is to get to, whether or not it’s a weekend, if you will need to learn any new music, and many other factors.  

Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) generally pay more than what I listed above. Also, I will always tell you the pay for a specific gig when I'm offering it to you.

Q: Where Are The Gigs?

Most clients book their carolers in October and November, so I can’t tell you exactly where the gigs are yet. I can tell you that last year we had so many gigs that it nearly overwhelmed our small roster, and many of them paid well enough that I could import singers from Los Angeles to cover the gigs. In general, gigs may be anywhere from Los Gatos to Pleasanton to Marin to Napa, and we received enough inquiries from the Sacramento area last year that I would like to recruit singers in or close to that area as well. You are not required to accept any gigs if the geography or travel time doesn't make sense for the pay you are offered; Put “NO” on the Gig Sheet for any gigs that don’t appeal to or work for you.

All the gigs that are booked or which I expect to book are listed on a large online spreadsheet (It’s a Google Sheet) I call the Gig Sheet, and each singer has a row on which they can indicate their availability and interest for that gig.  The Gig Sheet is usually available for singers to start indicating the gigs they want starting around September 1st each year. Here is what last year’s Gig Sheet looked like; singer names are redacted for privacy. 

Q: What Music Will I Be Singing?

The repertoire for the Bay Area carolers is about 70 carols. More than half are traditional carols and/or holiday songs you are probably familiar with. There are another 30 or so songs in the Book that are not required learning for Bay Area carolers, but if it happens that a client requests one of those songs for a gig you’re on, you may be asked to learn one or two of them. Several songs are straight-up vocal jazz and need to be sung with minimal or non-existent vibrato. The music will be shared with you in PDF format and you may either print it out or use a tablet/iPad on gigs.

Even if you are an experienced caroler, there are songs in my book with which you are not familiar and which are not always easily read. To aid you learning the music, I provide vocal reference recordings of the music.

Q: What is the Vocal Range 

required for each voice part?

Q: Will I Be Wearing A Costume?

Yes, most gigs will be in period Victorian (also called Dickensian) costumes. I will provide the complete costume if you wish, but if you can provide the key costume piece (that’s a high-quality top hat for tenors and basses and a long, voluminous skirt for sopranos and altos) you will be paid an additional $10 per gig you perform. There is more costume information on the Costuming page (see the menu above). 

Q: How Many Rehearsals Are You Going to Have, and When Are They?

The 2024 rehearsal dates and locations will be determined by the beginning of August. Most of them will be on weekend afternoons or evenings. 

You are not required to attend a specific number of rehearsals, but I do need to hear you sing in a quartet before the end of rehearsals to demonstrate that you are musically prepared and can hold your own part. You can arrive late or leave rehearsals early if you need to as well.

There will most likely be 3 or 4 Bay Area rehearsals. If you are new to TOR, I suggest that you plan to attend as many as your schedule will allow. Returning carolers are advised to attend one or two rehearsals. 

Q: How Many Gigs Will You Offer Me?  

This depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to: 

• your availability 
• how musically prepared you are
• how quickly you update the Gig Sheet / indicate your availability

My goal for the Bay Area area is to offer each singer at least 4 gigs, but if you have good availability (especially on weekends and especially on Saturday evenings), you will probably get more offers than that. 

If you are ONLY available weekends that is fine, just be sure to let me know.

If you are generally NOT available either weekends or evenings in December it is probably not worth your time to learn the music, as I probably won't have many gigs for you. If you are not available ANY Saturdays in December, I will not be able to work with you. 

Q: What if I’m already singing with another Christmas Caroling company?

I do not require or expect you to work with me exclusively! There are both advantages and challenges to working with multiple caroling companies. I would prefer if you decided to work with only TOR, but if you can keep the TOR Gig Sheet updated as to which TOR gigs you are available for, it will head-off most problems. 

If you work with another caroling company in an administrative or directing capacity, or if you have any other obligations that I feel constitute a conflict of interest for you, I may not be comfortable having you on the TOR roster. (Simply being on another caroling company's roster or doing gigs with another caroling company is not considered a conflict of interest. If you are not sure, please talk to me about it.)

Q: What Do You Expect From your carolers?

Communication: I expect you to return emails ASAP, and definitely within 24 hours. If you cannot reply to emails in a timely fashion you may be dropped from my roster completely.  I may send texts about gigs, and I expect the same or faster response time for those. 

Technology: You need to have the ability to send and receive texts from your mobile phone, and you need to have a google account or gmail email address (this does not have to be your primary email address) and a device or computer which can easily access the Google Sheets where you will indicate which gigs you would like.

Adequate Music Preparation: Although you will be holding music, you should not be sight-reading when you perform. You should be familiar enough with your part to be reading the lyrics and using the music as a reference. Occasional slip-ups are not a big deal - I don't expect perfection, but I do expect about 95% note and rhythm accuracy. You will be expected to learn most of the music on your own, with the aid of the vocal reference recordings. Rehearsals are mostly for me to assess your progress; I don't pound notes at rehearsals. I rarely touch a piano in rehearsals because I expect you to have the music prepared in advance.

Please understand that the music is likely harder than music you may have sung with other caroling companies, and it will take more time to learn than just the time you spend in rehearsal. 

Q: Do TOR singers perform on microphones?

Sometimes yes, usually no. Gigs with amplification will generally be offered to more experienced carolers, and they typically have an earlier call time than most gigs. Another way to earn some income is by providing the sound system for a gig, if you own that kind of equipment. You will need to bring your sound set-up to a rehearsal to demonstrate that it works and that you know how to run it and to set it up, but bringing a complete sound system to a gig (and I do mean COMPLETE, including cables, mic & music stands, etc) can earn you an additional $150-200 per gig. Even bringing a partial sound system to a gig can pay extra if someone else on the gigs brings the rest of the pieces. 

Q: Is there anything else I should know?

You have a couple options regarding the caroling book:

1) You may print and make your own book from a PDF I will provide. Caroling books should be made using a plain black 3-ring binder, with no colors or decorations on the outside. Sheet protectors are not required, and you may print two-sided pages if you want to save paper, although that makes it harder to update in future years.

2) You may read music from a tablet as long as it is in a folder that looks like a caroling book to people observing you sing. You can buy folders specifically made for this, or you can jury-rig a 3-ring binder. 

Regardless of the format, you agree not to use any of the music for any other purpose other than practice, rehearsal, and performances for The Other Reindeer Carolers without my express written permission. You also agree not to share the sheet music with anyone else without my written permission.

If you have other questions, please respond to the email I sent you, and I will be happy to answer them!

--Colleen Keene