Virtual Choir 2.0 – An Extraordinary Online Event

Many of us music lovers have been waiting for this event for a long time. Tonight at 6pm New York time, the world premiere of Eric Whitacre‘s Virtual Choir 2.0 Sleep will be released online.

I will explain this fascinating endeavor and why it’s so special for those of you who may be unfamiliar with it. A few years ago, classical composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, had an idea to invite people from all over the world to upload videos online singing Lux Aurumque. People sent in their parts, whether they were soprano, alto, tenor or bass. He uploaded a video of him conducting for them to use as a guide.

He and his team pieced all the videos together to create the world’s first virtual choir. There were over 185 voices from 12 countries. The video, which gives me goosebumps, went viral of course. The singers involved talked about how close they all felt and how special it was to be part of such a unique choir. Eric soon began working on an even bigger choir, a Virtual Choir 2.0.

Fast forward to now… tonight is the release of this second virtual choir. This time around, the singers will be performing Sleep, another Eric Whitacre original. Their goal was to have 900 people participate, and they crushed that goal with over 2,051 videos from 58 countries submitted. If you would like to check this out more, you can watch the live event tonight or, I’m sure it will be on YouTube immediately afterwards. I can’t wait to watch it. Goosebumps… here you come!

The first Virtual Choir – Lux Aurumque

Via: [NPR] [Paley Center] [mLive]