If Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs, Kwanza rhythms...

If Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs, Kwanza rhythms and “Auld Lang Syne” weren’t enough of a musical challenge, the South Coast Choral Society and Ludwig van Beethoven can offer your vocal chords a more strenuous and sonorous workout.

Monday from 7:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m., the Community Choral Group will sponsor a sing-along workshop at the Hesse Park Community Center in Rancho Palos Verdes. The evening’s musical selection will be Beethoven’s Mass in C.

The workshop is intended as an “introductory, come-look-us-over session,” said Maria Van Pelt, a member of the group. “It will show people the skill level involved before they make a commitment.”

Auditions for the choral society are planned next week; the sing-along workshop is an opportunity for those interested to spend an evening singing with the current members before the regular Monday rehearsals for the spring concert begins Jan. 20.

Most of the members have had some choral training, said Shelley Baskett, who handles publicity for the group. The ability to sight-read musical scores is an advantage for prospective members. “We’ve had some members with extremely good ears who learn the songs by listening,” she said, “but it’s helpful to have a good ear and to be able to read the music.”

The South Coast Choral Society was founded 11 years ago by “people who just like to sing,” Van Pelt said. Almost all the members live or work in the South Bay. Ted Gardner, the music director, has a residence in the South Bay, but spends most of his time in Santa Barbara.

Members who can afford it are asked to pay dues of $30 for each of the winter and spring sessions, Baskett said. The membership varies from 40 to 75 people.

The winter concert, which took place the weekend before Thanksgiving, featured Bach’s Mass in D Minor. Although much of the group’s repertoire is classical work, members also sing spirituals and more modern pieces. Pianist Barbara Bauer Lyons is the group’s regular accompanist.

One year, accompanied by rocks and drums, they sang a soliloquy by American Indian Chief Seattle that was set to music. Van Pelt remembered it as being very challenging.

The spring concert will include pieces by Samuel Barber, Irving Berlin, Benjamin Britten, George Gershwin and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. No date has been set for the concert.

“It’s a powerful thing to be in the middle of incredibly beautiful music,” Baskett said. “The music you make with other people, that’s what draws us together as a team.”

There is no admission fee for the sing-along. The Hesse Park Community Center is located at 29301 Hawthorne Blvd. in Rancho Palos Verdes. For more information, call (310) 377-3944.