‍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. We have been in business since 2009, and typically book 200-250 gigs per season. Most of those bookings are in the Los Angeles Area, but we also book gigs in The San Francsico Bay Area, Denver, and occasionally in New York City, Charleston, or Savannah. This year we are adding Seattle and Philadelphia branches of our company as well. We booked 68 gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2025; most Bay Area singers averaged 10 to 14 gigs each, but highly available singers booked about 20 gigs each. The Bay Area needs carolers more than any of our other regions; booking is going extremely well, but the number of gigs we can book is limited by the small roster. 

‍

‍

‍Traits I look for in Christmas Carolers:

‍

• Cheerful, entertaining performers
• People who are fun to be around and easy to work with
• Beautiful, loud voices with easily suppressed vibrato
• Experienced ensemble singers (experienced at singing a part by themselves)
• Excellent pitch
• Ability to sing close/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
• Possess a mobile phone that can send and receive texts
• Possess a tablet or iPad for reading music at rehearsals and gigs (NEW for 2026)

‍

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

‍

‍

‍Rehearsals AND performances are paid (for people who successfully learn the music)

‍

‍Q: How Much Do You Pay?

‍

‍For gigs, I generally pay in the following ranges (per singer):

‍

‍$90 - 120 for a 30-minute gig

‍$110 - 140   for   1-hour gig

‍$150 - 180   for   2-hour gig

‍$175 - 210   for   3-hour gig

‍$200 - 250   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: How Many Rehearsals Are You Going to Have, and When Are They?

‍

‍The 2026 rehearsal dates and locations will be determined by mid-August. Most of them will be on weekend afternoons or evenings. 

‍

‍There will most likely be 5 or 6 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 two rehearsals. 

‍

‍Rehearsals are paid at a rate of $22/hour ONLY to singers who have completed at least 4 gigs. Rehearsal pay with be sent to singers after they have completed their 4th caroling gig of the season (almost always in December). Returning singers will be paid for up to 5 hours of rehearsal (usually two rehearsals); new singers will be paid for up to 8 hours of rehearsal UNLESS they do not meet the company’s musical standards by the end of rehearsals, in which case they will not be paid for rehearsals. 

‍

‍Singers are not required to attend a specific number of rehearsals, but you will only be paid for the rehearsals you attend, to the maximum allowed as indicated above, rounded to the nearest quarter hour.  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.

‍

‍

‍Q: Where Are The Gigs?

‍

‍In general, gigs may be anywhere from Los Gatos to Pleasanton to Marin to Napa. Many are in San Francsico. 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 the 2024 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 100 songs. You can see the list here. Yes, it’s a LOT of music! About half are traditional carols and/or holiday songs you are probably familiar with. 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 arrangements in my book with which you are not familiar and which are not always easily sightread. To aid you learning the music, I provide vocal reference recordings of the music. You are expected to learn the music mostly on your own. We do not “pound notes” at rehearsals. Memorization is NOT required; you will hold your tablet in a black folder on gigs. 

‍

‍

‍Q: What is the Vocal Range 

‍required for each voice part?

‍

‍(Please see let me know if you can’t see the image)

‍

‍You must be able to perform every note in the range of the voice part you select. For example, if you typically sing baritone and aren’t able to perform Low F’s OR High G’s, you may not be a good fit for The Other Reindeer. 

‍

‍

‍Q: Will I Be Wearing A Costume?

‍

‍Yes, most gigs will be in period Victorian (also called Dickensian) costumes. Your costume options are either to provide your own that meets my standards, or I can provide specialized historical costume pieces for you to wear for a flat $100 per season, including shipping both ways. There is more costume information on the Costuming pages (see the menu above). 

‍

‍

‍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 8 gigs, but if you have good availability (especially on weekends and especially on Saturday evenings), you will probably get more offers than that. The busiest Bay Area singers did about 20 gigs each last year.

‍

‍

‍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: What is the audition like?

‍

‍Preliminary auditions are done virtually. I will send you sheet music and audio for snippets of some of the songs in our roster, you will video-record* yourself singing your part and share the results with me (without any editing or pitch correction). I will get back you between August 1st and August 7th to let you know if I will be inviting you to join the roster. 

‍

‍*I require videoed auditions to deter editing and pitch correction. Your physical appearance is not a factor, although your stage presence and performance demeanor ARE considered. 

‍

‍The secondary audition is proving that you know the music, which comes at the end of rehearsals. At the end of your final rehearsal, you will be asked to sing in a quartet to show that you are ready to gig. 

‍

‍

‍Q: Is there anything else I should know?

‍

‍As of 2026, we require that carolers use tablets instead of printed caroling books. This makes it easier to share and update sheet music, and it’s a lot easier on your back than carrying around a book with 100 sings in it. iPads with ForScore are ideal, but you may use any tablet that lets you view, mark up, and navigate around your music quickly. 

‍

‍You will need to hold your tablet in a black folder or 3-ring binder 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. 

‍

‍If you don’t have a tablet, we have some available to be loaned out, but a deposit will be required for that. The first step is to get accepted into the roster, though! If you are a good fit we will figure out a tablet for you :)

‍

‍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

‍

‍

‍Sound good? Would you like to submit materials to be considered for our roster?

‍

‍The Other Reindeer Carolers does not have in-person auditions in the Bay Area. You will need to send video samples of your singing in order to be considered. Please complete the form below to get the process started; as soon as you submit the form you should immediately receive an email with audition materials and instructions. 

‍

‍If you can't see the form below, please click here to complete it.