Stories

The Virtual Choir has created a global community of singers, each of whom has their own story about participating in the project. Here are a few of our favourites.

I am a junior music edu. major in college right now and this semester has been really tough for me when it came to participating in my choir. I had to sit out weeks of rehearsal because of the effects my new chemotherapy treatment had on me. I honestly wasn’t motivated at all to do the video after barely surviving singing through this semester but found it really rewarding after I did. And that I took the time to invest in it and not allow that to determine my work as a singer, and that I could overcome it. I also don’t get to sing a lot of Whitacre right now and I enjoy his work immensely. I really love doing it, thanks Eric! (USA)

I have sung and made music for as long as I can remember, school, church, various choirs and occasions. When I heard about the Virtual Choir I was totally blown away by both the quality of the composition and the end result of the exercise…, as well as the technical expertise involved in bringing this concept to fruition. When I started to rehearse Sleep and read the poem, I realised how much this project would mean to me. My wife died of cancer in November 2009, she was 56, I was 53. She’s not there to hold at the end of a busy day – in the morning she’s not there to smile at in anticipation of a bright new one – but whilst I’m asleep there is at least the possibility that I may dream of her, of us together, as if it were all back to normal. I have had such dreams, and it’s what makes the nights bearable. “What dreams may come, both dark and deep?” Thank you. (UK)

We are strangers that have come… together to meet a common goal and have done so from the comfort of living and dorm, and even bath! HA! rooms stretched out from sea to sea to sea. We are professional and amateur, young and old, confident and shaky, rich and not so, students, unemployed, working, and retired. What we all have in common is drive, determination, will to work hard and risk feeling embarrassed (come ON! Some do, but many of us do not, sing a capella in front of our computers, or anyone else for that matter, then upload it for the world to see!), patience, and love for music. Worth mentioning also is perseverance. I’m sure that most of us recorded many times over before we uploaded. For me, probably 25 takes on different days, and I will admit I was sometimes frustrated in the beginning. (USA)

One of the many that came back to singing after a big gap – 25 years! My partner heard about it on BBC radio 4 and thought I’d be interested. Like a number of you I was quite shocked about how my breathing’s gone to pot, so there will be plenty of practising to get into shape for the next one (please make it soon Eric!). (UK)

I grew up with a classical conductor father who taught me my efforts were never good enough (99% in a music test was 1% wrong), so doing solo in dance, song or acting has always been challenging. I could have recorded this until doomsday and still not been happy with it, but this time I just took it to a reasonable level within a couple of hours and decided “that will do”. Then I stressed for days about the one note I bubbled and the breathing that was all wrong. (Uh oh, 99% girl again) but once it was up on Google Earth I knew it was acceptable for the group and have made peace with myself. (Australia)

My first dozen or so tries at recording my video were unsuccessful because I would break down in tears at the sheer beauty of Eric’s music. I was singing not only for myself, but for my beloved Dad who passed away at a very young 59 and had… one of the most beautiful tenor and baritone voices ever. I even downloaded the tenor part to submit in addition to my alto video, but it was too far outside my range. Daddy was a barbershopper for years when I was growing up, and I have been searching for an a cappella group to sing with – that’s when I discovered the EWVC. Thanks, Eric, for creating this phenomenon. I believe there are some voices joining in from a higher plane. (USA)

It’s strange…I’m legally blind. I’m extremely near-sighted, so in all my years of singing, I’ve never been able to see the face of the person conducting me. I get most of the hand-gestures, and I’m good enough to where I can quickly read the rest off of the people around me, but this is truly the first choral performance where I’ve been able to fully see and react off of the face of my conductor. Thank you for that. (USA)

It’s very easy to find me on VC map: one lone point in the center of huge Eurasia.. (Kazakhstan)

I love music, and I really love choral music, but since I’ve been homeschooled for most of high school, I haven’t been able to participate in choir. Instead, I’ve recorded all the parts of choir music and edited them together, similar to how parts are edited together in this virtual choir. Of course, my little solo quartet is nothing like an actual choir. My friend’s choir has done a few of Eric Whitacre’s compositions, and I’ve fallen in love with them. When I found out about his virtual choir, I was ecstatic. Hearing Lux Aurumque for the first time, I had tears in my eyes. Virtual choir is such an innovative, brilliant new concept. Of course, it will never be the same as a normal choir…but it is just as beautiful, in a different way. It’s unbelievable, miraculous, even, how many people of all different cultures and walks of life are joining together to create something beautiful together. (USA)

I recorded both the tenor I and II part in my car (i could have recorded in my home studio, but somehow i feel more inspired in my car :) (Italy)

I’ve never been a particularly good singer, but I learned to really like singing in choirs. Now that I’ve finished school for now and am not religious, I don’t have a place to sing anymore, besides my bathroom walls and the steering wheel. So virtual choir has given me a way to sing again (even if it’s still technically by myself). As I really miss singing in a choir, this has helped a bit with that. (USA)

I’ve never sung in a choir. I’m not a vocalist. I feel Eric’s music vicariously through my oboist daughter, who has loved/performed October. When I heard Sleep, I was compelled to sing…so I did…(sing, not sleep). As was so eloquently phrased by another participant: At least I didn’t sing in the rests or rest in the sings. (USA)

Since I recorded: I am singing! A lot. I have always sung to myself and wanted to sing with others, for others, out loud….ha ha. The Virtual Choir project has been part of my journey to embrace music in my life again, my voice and the voice and sound all around. (UK)

I used to sing… Then I didn’t… Now I do again. Much wobblier than it used to be, and my breathing is atrocious, but it’s a start. (UK)

Even though I was a procrastinator, I was determined to give it my all and took 23 takes and 2 hours to get a version I was 100% happy with – to put a recording of just your own voice, which at the end of the day is your own instrument/’art’ on the Internet for all and sundry to comment on is an incredibly personal thing to do…and I wanted to do it the justice it deserved. (UK)

What I love most about Whitacre’s Virtual Choir is that it ultimately begins and ends with everyday people. Whether we’re professional musicians, casual singers, or have never sung in a choir in our lives, we can still participate. With the Virtual Choir, country borders, native languages–we are all connected through the music. What an amazing message to the world! (USA)

I celebrated my 60th birthday this month and have been singing in auditioned choirs all my life, from age 5! However, recording my part for the VC is the HARDEST singing I’ve ever done. I lost count of how many attempts I made at the recording – the slightest voice wobble or error in breathing sticks out like a sore thumb and you feel so exposed! Gone is the comfort and confidence that the presence of choir mates all around you provides, even if you are one of the stronger singers in the choir. Even so, I’m glad I persevered and I’m awfully proud to be a part of this huge undertaking. (New Zealand)

I hadn’t sung in probably 25 years (good reason, don’t have space to share though) and i’d forgotten how good it is for the psyche. i heard a piece by mr. whitacre performed at a local chorale concert and was blown away by how beautiful it was. went online, found out about VC. of course, my voice was extremely rusty, but i loved “sleep” so much that i decided to participate. ultimately this lead me to join a local choral group (we’re performing Dvorak’s “Requiem”) and it has been a life changing experience. my husband died in a really horrible manner in 2004 and i hadn’t been able to get past that. until now. when i am singing. thank you, eric. you saved my life. (USA)

Shortly after posting my video I received a comment. With fear and trepidation I opened it, to see “Nice curtains”! (UK)

When I heard about the Virtual Choir singing Sleep I was so excited!! I downloaded the music right away, but never really made it a priority. As the deadline approached I decided that I shouldn’t be a part of the choir. I didn’t know the song as well as I wanted to and things didn’t seem to be working out. Then I saw the video of 9 year old ‘Georgie’ singing Sleep and I was so inspired that I recorded my video that very day. (USA)

I just uploaded my video! Doing the recording was so poignant for me this year. I’m helping take care of my sister in hospice and she was sleeping nearby as I was singing about surrendering unto sleep. Very moving…(USA)

I have not sung for 30 or more years, and it has been somewhat of an awakening to find that I can still (sort of) sing. But it has taken a good few months to even get back into something that is in tune. I am still v unhappy about the quality of my voice, but after about 60 attempts at recording this I feel it will take more than a few weeks to significantly improve from what I have now. But thank you for starting me back on singing again. (UK)

Haven’t done much singing for 4 years and nothing of this caliber (like MD All State/US All Eastern) since high school (1993) and college. I love that a working 35 year old Mom from rural America can still sing with a great choir! I miss it so much! I looked at the pics of the technical aspect & it makes me want to go back to school and do music technology. (USA)

My singing leaves much to be desired, but I haven’t sung in a choir in 30 years, so I hope to do better next time! (UK)

It is ironic to see the global recognition of the wider determinants of health, and to think that those factors that affect wellbeing (like your music) have a potentially greater contribution to make towards improving health in the 21st century than many of the scientific advances of recent times. (UK)

Submitting my part was a huge win against my self-doubt, and I hope it will be the catalyst which ignites my journey into a life of music, spurred on by the unspoken encouragement of my 2000 new friends. (Australia)

You can read more stories at TED Conversations