VC4

For those of you who have never heard of Eric Whitacre, he's a composer of modern choral music. That's the nutshell version. You can read a longer version and a lot more here.

Why am I writing about him today? Because this past Friday, he launched Virtual Choir 4 and I'm a part of it.

Yep, I'm singing in a virtual choir with thousands of people all over the world. Why? Because it connects me. Because it makes me feel a part of something larger than myself. Because I love to sing and haven't in far too long.

I sang in last year's piece, Water Night. The music was the hardest I'd ever sung (with the possible exception of the Hallelujah Chorus) but I sang the alto part, alone in my room - just me, my microphone and Eric Whitacre on the computer screen. If you'd like to see the end result, the video "we" made is here (and if you want to read what I wrote about the process, click here). (NOTE: if you watch the credits, I'm in the Alto section, but not under this name. Next year I'll divulge that secret. :) )

This year my husband intends to join me, submitting his own video. I expect he'll sing the bass line, possibly the tenor 2. I'll submit an alto 2 line and, if I can, an alto 1 line as well.

What's especially cool about this year's choir is the fact that our singing tracks are only part of the piece. There will be a techno/dubstep/dance track that runs under it. After it's released, he's hoping others will take it and do remixes and create something new from what we provide as the base. This is so very, very cool!

And, as icing on the cake? It premieres at the 60th anniversary ceremonies for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. I'm going to sing for the Queen even though I'll never leave my study to do it! Ya gotta love technology!

Off to practice...and you should think about joining us!

Diana