Fifty-eight
Countries Sing in Unison
When composer Eric Whitacre saw a YouTube video of 17-year-old Britlin Losee singing his song “Sleep,” he was inspired. “I was struck so hard by the beauty and the intimacy of it...the sweetness of it,” explains Whitacre, “and I thought it would be amazing if we could get 100 people to do this and put it all together and make a virtual choir.”
To test his theory, he had a group of 185 singers, from 12 countries, sing individually into webcams while listening to his piece “Lux Aurumque” through headphones. A technician cut the videos together and the Virtual Choir 1.0 video, which has had more than 2 million views, was created.
Pleased with the video, but eager for more, Whitacre took on an even larger challenge, Virtual Choir 2.0. He invited singers from around the world to submit videos of themselves singing either the soprano, alto, tenor, or bass part of his song “Sleep.” By video, he gave specific instructions about how the lyrics should be sung, taking participants through each measure of the music. He told choir members to wear only black clothes, with no logos, and to make sure their faces were well lit for the recordings. He then instructed them on how to record so as to allow later synching of the videos. He then conducted “Sleep” for them with only piano accompaniment.
On April 7, the beautiful and inspiring video, bringing together more than 2,000 singers in 58 countries, was completed and posted on Whitacre’s website (www.ericwhitacre.com). Amazingly, everyone who submitted a video is included in the final track. “For me singing together and making music together is a fundamental human experience and I love that technology can bring people together from all over the world to participate in this transcending experience,” says Whitacre.
< Back to latest Music and Health
