Hey Chris,

 

What you have to consider is that it will take a while before your students get acquainted. When I was in high school, our choral director made a game out of attendance. He would call out our name and we would say something about ourselves. I would also suggest that you come up with a group activity that involves all of your students. This activity could be as simple as a eurythmics circle. Split up the choir by voice part and have them step different note values or specific rhythms while you clap or drum a beat. In between steps, have them fill space in between their steps like a choir would with sound. Then have two circles of mixed. This can be a simple rhythm activity or something that helps with the repertoire. You don't have to worry about them getting acquainted during an activity because they will be working together and you can let it happen naturally.

When class is over, before they leave for their next class, give them an "assignment" every day to find someone they don't know very well in the choir, and have them learn five interesting facts about that person.  To make sure they do it, have them write out those facts and turn them in the next day.  That way they spend time with other classmates outside of class, and it doesn't run into the classtime.  Or, have a "featured" student every day (depending on how many students you have) and that student can tell the class who they are, and something about themself. 

A bulletin board with head-shots of everyone and names labeled underneath can be a great resource for learning names and faces. The music department of the college I attended had such a board and professors and students alike would go sneak a peak at it whenever they couldn't remember someone's name.

A little game I got from my co-op during student teaching - I've used it twice, now, and been in a teacher's conference where we used it, and it worked pretty well all around:

 

Get To Know You Bingo

Set up a 5 by 5 bingo board (message me if you want me to send you an example) and fill in each square with a statement, like "has multiple siblings" or "Loves chocolate" or "has never been out of state"....you get the idea.  I do musical things in mine, because I'm a general music teacher and I'm wondering about what kind of talents my students might have hidden away, so I use things like "plays in band", "takes piano lessons", "loves R&B music", etc. 

 

Each person gets a sheet of paper with the bingo board printed on it.  The goal is to get 5 signatures in a row.  The students must then walk around the room asking questions of one another, like "do you like R&B music?" or "have you ever traveled out of state?" and only the people who can answer yes to the question can sign their name in the appropriate square.  You can only have a single person sign their name to your paper twice, and you may not put your own name on your own paper.

 

At the end of the game, I sometimes have them quickly answer a few more questions about themselves; things like "If you take piano lessons, how long have you been taking them?" This way I know who I can call on to do the more challenging activities in class or to accompany a concert, etc.