Virtual Choir and the Music Community

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the work of Eric Whitacre. He composes largely for choirs, and his music is amazing.

This past week, he released a new virtual choir video on YouTube. It is incredible. He videotaped himself conducting his piece entitled Sleep, and sent out a request to the world for singers to record themselves on their webcams singing their parts to the piece.

The result: 2052 singers from 58 countries submitted their videos. They were carefully put together to make a Virtual Choir.

I think that sometimes, as pianists, we get stuck in our own little bubble. Our instrument is so often played alone, and sometimes it's hard to find a musical community where our enormous instrument fits in. I wanted to post this for you all because it shows that we can all be part of a musical community, even if it requires singing into a webcam to connect with thousands of people around the world. I hope you find this video as moving as I do...