You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Virtual Choir’ tag.
Back when the internet was just starting, there were many, how can we put this politely, ‘optimistic’ predictions in the vein of bringing the world together, unbounded communication, openness, a giant leap forward for mankind – blah blah blah.
Unfortunately, what we got was a commercialized, sectarian echo chamber that, more often than not, served to augment the insular tendencies humanity is famous for. Rather than being exposed to ideas from all the cultures with access to the web, we limit our exposure and often work very hard to keep what we watch and read within our small cultural frameworks. Ignorance still rules the day as like minded communities spin their self-referential webs of their preferred reality, creating closed online cultures that desperately maintain the status-quo. It’s a shitty feature of meat-space replicated to “Nth” time here on the web.
Eric Whitacre’s projects reach across these boundaries, across the sectarian divides and foist people out of their enclaves so they can join and share a common goal; the production of beautiful music. I have reservations about some of the technical aspects of what Whitacre is doing with the Virtual Choirs, but I am in full agreement with the spirit of what the VC’s accomplish. Bringing people together to work toward a common goal despite all the cultural baggage and all the prejudice and insular nonsense that routinely bollocks-up human interactions.
The Virtual Choirs hint at what the internet should be for, as opposed what it is at the moment.
Music is our great hope, the universal language, and the ultimate unifier. I can appreciate music from 1720 Venice just as easily as I can music from 1970 Toronto. Further, I’ve been doing so since before I could speak. Such is the power of music that distances of 7000 km and 250 years are rendered moot without the slightest effort. Yet, when one does apply effort, the tunnels of discovery are complex and endless. The study of music can reveal an immense amount about the people, the society, the generation, and the human experience involved in its creation. In nothing else is so much information so readily available to so many.
While these powers can be experienced and appreciated just by listening, their magnitude and influence grow exponentially when one partakes in the creation of music. Again, no special skills are required. Sure, instruments can take years to master, but anyone can take part in song. Indeed, in testament to its unifying power, any lack of singing ability is progressively rubbed out as more and more people join in a song. No one ever needed a voice lesson for a camp fire sing along.
As a wondrous demonstration of this limitless potential for connectivity and understanding to bridge the many powers of division in the world, I present Virtual Choir. Headed by visionary composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, it is an online community dedicated to bringing the world together through singing.
I cannot do justice to this fantastic project, nor can I match the charisma of the main man himself. So here, along with links to the glorious end products, Virtual Choir, Virtual Choir 2.0, and Virtual Choir 3, I will turn the stage over to Mr. Whitacre and his TED Talk, the inspirational video that introduced me to Virtual Choir, and the Kickstarter video for Virtual Choir 4.
One of the accomplishments of which I am most proud is taking part in Virtual Choir 3. Please join me in participating in, supporting, and spreading the word of Virtual Choir 4.
Past the politics and the divisiveness, past the rhetoric and atomization that so deeply scars our society, every once and awhile the message comes through: Yes we can work together, yes we can overcome our differences, yes we can make beauty and harmony flow together toward one common cause that we all share.
This Friday’s Classical Music Interlude is a deeply moving experience and I am most happy to share it with you my fair readers. The first video is the TED Talks which provides the back story and sets the stage for this magnificent accomplishment. The second video is the song in full. Enjoy.
The 185 singer Virtual Choir 1.o – Lux Aurumque in full.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…