Yes, you read the title right – a virtual choir! More on that in a minute…

I’m a big fan of the composer Eric Whitacre. You can find his web site at http://www.ericwhitacre.com, his blog at http://www.soaringleap.com, and information on Wikipedia at http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Whitacre. He composes primarily choral and wind band music. I’ve actually had the pleasure of performing one of his pieces, Equus, with the Case Symphonic Winds during my time at Case Western Reserve University and I own one of his a cappella compilation CDs. His music is truly fascinating music to me and I really enjoy his compositional style.

If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of YouTube. Any time I end up running across a particular well done performance of one of Mr. Whitacre’s compositions, I’ll usually favorite the video. A few days ago, I received a suggestion on my home page that drew me right in – Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir performing his piece Lux Aurumque. I thought to myself, a virtual choir? Really? Yes! I’ve watched dozens of barbershop tags that have been multitracked on YouTube. If you don’t know to what I’m referring, you can see a great example here of a tag for Scarborough Fair. Don’t worry, the rest of the article will be here when you get back! And if you already know what this is, still listen to the tag anyway; it’s a good one!

Singers from 12 countries around the globe all signed on to YouTube to post their recordings of themselves singing Lux Aurumque with the help of a conductor video. Then, every video was put together into a wonderful fully 3D experience. After the introductory text, the video proceeds by opening a curtain to reveal all of the singers and Mr. Whitacre’s conductor track in the middle. It’s a virtual stage! It was extremely well done and I appreciated that the “stage” had no floor or ceiling. It really tried to imitate what a virtual stage should be – a gathering of individuals floating out on cyberspace. The backdrop consists solely of virtual lighting. Quite a neat trick and it makes for a very compelling video. Also, I felt that the audio track was equally impressive. If you’ve never heard the music of Eric Whitacre or even if you have, please check out the video of the choir. It’s truly spectacular.

If you’re curious about how this all came together, check out the follow post on Mr. Whitacre’s blog: The Virtual Choir: How We Did It