Making Real Connections Through Virtual Choir

They sang as individuals but became part of something bigger in Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir. Seven members share their journey and their connections.

In December 2011, composer Eric Whitacre made an announcement on his website about his third Virtual Choir project: "Water Night". Singers from around the world were invited to prepare and submit a video for one or more of the 14 voice parts in this choral work from Whitacre's Grammy-winning album, Light & Gold. A record number of 3,746 videos were submitted by singers representing 73 countries.

Singers uploaded their video(s) either to Eric Whitacre's website or Youtube. The video and audio were scrubbed for every submission. The videos were then synchronized to become one massive multi-track. VC3's "Water Night" was launched on April 2, 2012, via live stream at the Lincoln Arts Center in New York, NY. VC3 has recently received over 200,000 views on Youtube.

Yours truly had the opportunity to speak with seven members of Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3.0: Melissa Ann Cody (Goshen, NY, USA), Bren Wrona Norris (Sonoma, CA, USA), Maria Petrova (New York, NY, USA), Jack Rowland (Tampa Bay, FL, USA), Scott Simmons (San Antonio, TX, USA), Kristen Soo (Burnaby, BC, CAN) and Chrissie Vincent (Petersfield, Hampshire, UK). Their individual stories intersect and connect to create the Virtual Choir story.

Discovering the Music of Eric Whitacre

“I happened to be at the concert where they premiered “Water Night”," says Maria Petrova. "I was not ready for this at all. I wasn't even that much of a fan of choral music. I just went because I'm a graphic designer and I was designing the concert programme for the arts centre at BYU.

“I was absolutely – just – entranced by “Water Night”. I remember very clearly the moment when it came on,” she says. “I felt like it literally washed every cell of my body.”

Kristen Soo was on campus at Simon Fraser University when she watched Virtual Choir 2 - “Sleep”: “I was crying in my lab. It was so beautiful.”

In her studio, Bren Wrona Norris, a voting member of the Recording Academy, was listening to the nominees in choral music for the 54th Annual Grammys. When she came to Eric Whitacre's Light and Gold album, Bren said, “Oh my gosh, this is phenomenal!”

“I immediately voted for him and then I went online to find out what he does, where he's from and how he came to be,” Bren gushes. “It was the week or two before we had to have our videos in for VC3. It was that fast. I said, 'All right! I'll do it!' ”

Virtual Choir Members Make Connections

“I was trying to record a couple of weeks before the deadline,” recalls Kristen. “I was having a clipping problem with my mic. When I sang too loudly, it would just make these really weird noises. I made a post on the Facebook page. It turned out that Jack [Rowland] as well as David Johnson responded and they were able to help me out.”

As the initial deadline and later, the extended deadline approached, more people were experiencing challenges. They flocked to the Virtual Choir Facebook page for help.“I put in two videos and I asked a question to the Facebook page,” says Scott Simmons. “One of them's better than the other one. Which one should I put in?” With a smile, he adds, “Of course, Jack [Rowland] pipes up and says, “Take the best one and put it in.”

As Scott scrolled down the FB page, he read more comments by Jack. “Wow! He's helping a lot of people.” A thought popped into Scott's mind, “I love technology. I love music. This is a sweet spot for me, so I went in and started helping everyone else out.”

The helpers were commenting so often, that some people were banned from commenting. Jack Rowland was one who landed in “Facebook Jail”, not once, but twice. “What really caused it was we were answering so many questions,” recounts Jack. “I had a cheat sheet so that I could copy/paste. I could rapid-fire responses to common questions.”

One person Jack helped was Christy-Lyn Marais. “We take for granted that we have wi-fi everywhere,” says Jack. “So she's talking to me about how she's trying to send using a 3G cell phone. At one point, I say, “ 'Can you find a McDonald's?' because they all have free wi-fi now.”

Her reply: “The nearest McDonald's is like, 400 miles away from here.” That's when Jack discovered that Christy-Lyn lives in a remote part of South Africa.

“On the last day when there were a lot of problems,” says Kristen. “Everyone was trying to submit at the same time.” She thought, “Maybe I'll just join one of these [Google] Hangouts, say 'Hi' and just see how it goes.” She's glad she did. “It happened to be that I met over 10 people that night. I actually got to meet Jack face-to-face, which was really great as I got to thank him for helping me with my microphone. Chrissie [Vincent] was in that Hangout as well.”

Virtual Choir – A Global Choir

“I was very struck and amazed by how much of a connection I had,” recalls Jack. “Even though when I watched Virtual Choir 1, I was thinking, 'This isn't choral singing.' But when I sang my part and Eric conducted, the connection that I had with him – looking into his eyes and watching him conduct was every bit as real to me as if I were standing on a stage, and that surprised me.”

“To think there is someone in Syria who sang with us, despite this incredible turmoil that they're in,” comments Maria. “And this girl in Japan named Hitomi, who leads a totally different life than I do and is 22 hours ahead of me. She was able to sing at the same time as me, although she actually sang at a totally different time than me. That we all somehow ended up singing at the same synchronized performance – and that to me is an absolute miracle,” she adds.

Maria attended the launch of "Water Night" and Water Night CD Release along with fellow VC members Julie Souin, Kevin Callahan, Lynna Schaefer and Jack Rowland. “In many ways, I saw that it was technically not as superior as a professional performance of a hand-picked 24 singers. The beauty, on the other hand, was just how many voices [there were] and the different times of the consonants. They're kind of the things that one would consider imperfections from a technical point of view were in a beautiful way of reinforcing the multiplicity of people's backgrounds, of people's places, of people's times, of people's identities.”

Virtual Choir – An Online Community Without Borders

The Virtual Choir connection didn't end after any of these singers submitted their videos. Melissa Ann Cody has kept in touch with Jack Rowland since Virtual Choir 2. “Jack was working on another virtual choir project,” she explained. “There's a group on Facebook called Let's Sing for Japan. I did post a video for that.”

Chrissie Vincent watched the premiere of “Water Night” online with several of her Virtual Choir friends. “That was very exciting,” she recalls. “The fact that we were online and we actually watched the premiere. That's pretty special.”

Maria noticed Scott's support of others in the group and dropped him a line: “I'm lucky enough to live in New York and I'm going to be at the CD signing. Would you like a CD?” Scott replied, “Yeah, of course I would love one.”

“So I got him one and sent it to him,” says Maria. “He just wrote me this morning that he put the cheque in the mail and I said, 'Oh my gosh! It will be so weird to get a physical object from you.' ”

The online groups continue to thrive. “What I find fascinating is that people are so friendly, so great on VC Friends. Everyday I check it just to see what's going on,” says Bren.

“It's really different,” says Scott. “It's really nice to have a group of friends like that, who have the same passion for music that you do and that I do. That helps keep those connections alive.”

“I met so many people,” says Kristen. “We all just got talking and then having fun – as though we were sitting in the same room together, making jokes, supporting each other; just learning about each other's lives.”

“It's very enriching. It has enlarged my circle, which is tremendous,” says Chrissie. “It just goes to show what these online communities can actually do.”Sources:

Skype/Facebook video interviews with Melissa Ann Cody (April 15, 2012), Bren Wrona Norris (April 13, 2012), Maria Petrova (April 16, 2012), Jack Rowland (April 26, 2012), Scott Simmons (April 15, 2012), Kristen Soo (April 21, 2012) and Chrissie Vincent (April 13, 2012).

Originally published May 26, 2012 on Suite101.com. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Interview with Julie Souin of Virtual Choir 3.0

When I wrote for Suite101, I had the opportunity to interview Julie Souin from Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3.0 to discuss Eric Whitacre, DCINY's Sing with Eric and Virtual Choir.

Julie Souin of Rhode Island, USA, recorded four voice parts to Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3 project: “Water Night”. A total of 3,746 videos were submitted by singers from around the world. Souin sat down with Suite101 on April 25, 2012 via Skype to talk about Eric Whitacre's music, Virtual Choir and Sing With Eric.

Julie Souin on Recording Virtual Choir 2 and 3

“I obsessed over my recording with Sleep,” she recalled. “It wasn't good enough. No, I could do better.” She recorded 50 times before submitting her final video for VC2.

“I knew that it wasn't great and I could probably do even better; but it was the best I could do at the time, with the equipment that I had.” With a triumphant voice, followed by a hearty chuckle, she added, “I just felt like I conquered the world when I pressed 'Submit.' ”

Julie felt more relaxed while preparing for VC3, but had other challenges to contend with. “I had all the external issues, like my dogs making noises.” In another take, it was someone else. “My kids came home right as we're holding that last note. I'm holding one hand up to the door as they got the key in the door making a chick-chick-chick...I still submitted it!

“I think with Sleep, I would have never done that. I would have said, 'I wrecked it at the end.' With this, it was 'No, it's an OK recording'. I think I was much more forgiving with those kinds of things the second time around, knowing that a lot the little tiny things don't matter.” Turning reflective, she said, “But you do want to bring honour to the whole project and you want to bring honour to yourself in submitting the best possible production.”

Julie Souin on DCINY's Sing with Eric

In 2011, Julie's daughter auditioned and was selected to sing at Sing with Eric. This annual workshop is presented by Distinguished Concerts International – New York. “At the parent meeting,” she recalled, “I kind of jokingly said, 'Do you take parent singers?' The guy said, 'See me afterwards. I actually have a spot for you.' ” With a laugh, she added, “I was freaking out. Not only do I get to go hear this music live but now, my daughter's participating; and now I'm participating. It was a dream come true.”

Julie enjoyed herself so much that she participated again in Sing with Eric 2012, which was held March 30 – April 1, 2012 in New York, NY. Three days of intensive rehearsals with Eric Whitacre culminated with a performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. “To sing with the composer and to sing the music as closely as it's intended to be sung – to the best of your ability – is really a dream come true.”

Julie Souin on The Virtual Choir's Online Community

“So much of this is hard to put into words,” Julie said. After some thought, she elaborated, “The relationships that have blossomed out of this are, I feel, as real as the people I have met in real life. The people that I haven't – that I only know virtually, whether it's Google Hangouts or Skype or typing – they're like, real friendships and I would have never expected that. It was a very unexpected perk.”

Julie is full of admiration for her Virtual Choir friends. “These friends are artistic, very open people. Open to share of themselves. To give of themselves...They're very loving people.”

In addition to singing in Virtual Choir, Julie is a member of the Virtual Choir Army, a small group of singers who helped fellow VC members as they prepared their submissions. “My son is on his first deployment in Afghanistan,” she shared. “Helping people gather the courage to learn “Water Night” for VC 3.0, record and upload videos was extra rewarding. I really needed a healthy distraction from thinking about my son and his safety. Reaching out to others as well as learning and memorizing the music for our Carnegie Hall concert was just the thing. I am so grateful.”

The Water Night Premiere and Meeting Virtual Choir Members in New York

The world premiere of Virtual Choir 3.0: “Water Night” took place on Monday, April 2, 2012. It was fast on the heels behind Sing with Eric as well as the release of Eric Whitacre's latest CD, also entitled Water Night. Julie Souin attended both events.

“I'm sitting with all these people who have this vested interest,” she recalled. “A lot of them sang in the Virtual Choir. Everybody is heavily anticipating this moment and to watch it in the same room with all of them was really special.”

Another highlight for Julie was the opportunity to meet fellow Virtual Choir members in person. “Oh my gosh!” she gushed. “That was a cool thing itself. I spent a lot of time with Jack [Rowland] because we're really good friends. I picked him up at the airport. It was like we have known each other our whole lives from the get-go. From the second I saw him, there was this comfort level like a brother and sister.

“It wasn't until after the concert at Carnegie Hall and there was the rest of the gang all waiting. I met up with them and that moment was completely unreal. I saw Jack, Lynna [Schaefer] and Kevin [Callahan] and Jen [Christensen]. Then Dennis [Scannell] and Maria [Petrova].

“There were other people that joined us that I didn't know as well or I haven't known as long. The entire gang, no matter who showed up, whenever we went out or we were together, everybody was like one big happy family. It was almost like we had known each other since high school and we were having a high school reunion.”

Julie Souin on Meeting and Working with Grammy Winning Composer Eric Whitacre

When Suite101 asked “What is Eric like in person?” Julie quickly replied, “Special. Really, he's special. Not just the music he creates, but as a person. He really is super-grounded, down-to-earth, very genuine. Everything that you see in interviews? It's real.

“He's very respectful to each person he meets. He gives each person as much time as he can possibly give, in whatever situation they are approaching him.”

Julie firmly believes that Eric Whitacre's personal qualities come through in his music. “You feel that sincerity when you hear his music.”

Julie Souin on Eric Whitacre's CD Water Night

One of Julie's favourite tracks is “When David Heard”. “I can't imagine that you can make a piece that long out of so few words and it remains interesting; and you feel what the parent would feel if you were in that situation. It makes you feel something deep down. It really reaches the soul.”

When asked about the CD, Julie answered in revered tones. “I love it. It's everything I hoped it would be and thought it would be. Probably more.”

Originally published on Suite101.com on May 26, 2012. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Virtual Choir 4.0 Announced

Last week, Grammy-winning composer/conductor Eric Whitacre announced the next Virtual Choir Project: "Bliss". This piece is from his 2010 West End musical entitled Paradise Lost. It is quite the departure from previous virtual choir projects. An exciting one. Some choristers may grumble, but I personally think that this will introduce a new group of singers to the beauty of choral music. "Bliss" is a fusion of classical, techno and something else that I'm still trying to put my finger one. Another difference between VC4 and previous projects is the need for a Kickstarter campaign. As Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir continues to grow, so do the expenses. VC3: Water Night cost over $100,000 to create. Hence, the Kickstarter campaign. Since it's launch last weekend, the VC4 kickstarter project has raised over $18,000. Not too shabby. Without further ado, here's Eric Whitacre on the VC4 project: In light of the tragedies from last week, any opportunity to come together as a global community in the name of peace, is a welcome one.

The Big Reveal of Virtual Choir 3.0's Water Night

Yesterday was truly a magical day. After going through a rough morning (Murphy's Law prevailed), I was looking forward to seeing the cheerful faces of my students and the "premiere" of Virtual Choir 3.0. Both were the balm that I needed.

My students had heard about me struggling with my submission for Virtual Choir 3.0 (those pesky trouble spots). How apropos that I watched the premiere with two of my music students via Lincoln Center's live stream.

From the moment that lone water drop touched down and we sang our opening chord, the hairs on my arms stood up and my arms tingled. My students and I were just speechless for several minutes:

Our "performance" of "Water Night" by Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre, is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Spiritually, it's a balm and a booster. Truly magical. 

It's a powerful reminder of the power of music, of how art builds community and breaks barriers. A total of 3,746 videos from 2,945 people (singing one or more parts) in 73 countries were submitted.Now pundits can complain about how the cut-offs aren't exact and those "esses" drag on forever, or that we were blended together artificially. To them, I say that the virtual environment is never meant to replace the live environment. Just augment it.

I already sing in my church choir (and play piano AND cajón). I do a bit of collaborating with other musicians. Virtual Choir gives me a new world to explore. Technology to master. "Rehearsals" and "performances" that don't require me to give up teaching time. New repertoire to challenge myself with. New friends.

The singing part of Virtual Choir is only a fraction of the entire experience. I blogged about my Virtual Choir preparation and recording experience here. The real magic of Virtual Choir is "virtual choir makes real connections".

Some Virtual Choir members have been inspired by their experience to join a choir in their neighbourhood. I know of a couple who have signed up for singing lessons as a result of their Virtual Choir experience.

People from my generation may remember having international pen-pals as a child. Now, I have a whole army of pen-pals. With a VC member in numerous timezones, there is always someone available when I am.

We're exchanging gifts, planning visits and so on. I know of one couple who have come together through Virtual Choir.

We celebrate the joys, such as a job interview, a new composition or relationship. We support each other through the rough patches, such as surgery, relationship break-ups and cancer.

I was chatting with some of my choir buddies from the Virtual Choir Army last night and after celebrating the culmination of our hard work with "Water Night", we looked towards the future. Immediately on the horizon is our next multi-track project (singing Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium"). We dreamed about future real-life reunions and Virtual Choir 4.0. We are riding the wave of community and artistry created by Virtual Choir and seeing where it (and technology) will take us next.

So when we see that video, we see the breakdown of barriers. People in isolation coming together. People from countries who aren't on amicable terms singing "beside" each other. We see the we see the growth of those connections. We hear the magic created by people who may never meet, in communion with one another, drawn together to bring the haunting strains of "Water Night" to life.

Bravo Eric! Bravo VC Team! Bravo to all of you, my fellow choristers in Virtual Choir. We've made something truly special here.

Click on image below to check out Eric Whitacre's newest CD, Water Night:

My Virtual Choir 3.0 Experience

Last year, a friend introduced me to the music of Grammy winning composer Eric Whitacre. Within hearing the first two notes of "Sleep", the hair on my arms stood up, as if to say, "This is really something!"

When the announcement was made about Virtual Choir 3.0, I eagerly signed up. Little did I know how eye-opening and how dramatic, the experience would be.

"Water Night" is a haunting piece. Sometimes, I get poetry, but just sometimes. With "Water Night", certain phrases called out to me: "The secret kingdom of the water opens, flowing from the centre of the night," was by far my favourite line, followed by "And if you close your eyes, a river, a silent and beautiful current fills you from within."

I'll say this straight up, "Water Night" is by far the most technically challenging choral piece I've sung. Strong breath support is required to make it through those long phrases. I didn't have it when I began but I have it now.

However, "Silence and solitude, two little animals moon-led, drink in your eyes, drink in those waters," proved to be my nemesis. Bars 27- 28 soon became highlighted, circled and covered up in rainbow colours.

It was a hard fight, but my ear training improved to the point that I nailed that interval on the final take.

One month of drilling came down to four days/nights of recording. Four frustrating days and nights of tweaking and re-recording (usually done in the wee hours of the night, after teaching):

Night 1 (January 27 and 28): recorded in piano studio. Discovery: it was too wide of an area. Eight-plus takes coughed up one mediocre track. After experiencing uploading issues to the site, I gave up just before sunrise and sent a call for help to Tony Piper at Virtual Choir HQ.

 Day #2 (January 28): I put a box around the mic to limit what it picked up. All was good until someone walked on the area above my studio within the mic's recording range (at least I knew the mic was good).

Then, there the countless lagging video issues with the conductor track and dropped frames in my recording. Discovery: Someone from Virtual Choir was online, ready to lend a helping hand (usually Jack Rowland in Florida, Kevin Callahan in Maine and Holly Christine Brown in Illinois). I wound up with three mediocre tracks (Bar 27 - 28 was still wobbly at this point). I did another 10 tracks that day, more if you include what I deleted right away.

Day #3 (January 29): While visiting relatives, I tried recording in a spare room. The sound quality sky rocketed. I came up with a work-around to the lagging video issue with some help. Three takes resulted in two good takes. I started ending each take with, "If this is the winning take, thank you to everyone involved with Virtual Choir...."

Night #4 (January 30 and 31): Entering the day of the final submission day. I decided to try "one more time" but in my studio bathroom. Takes had to take place whenever the furnace shut off for a spell (it was a cold week). Three takes garnered one that stood head an shoulders above the rest.

But that's just the music side of things. Virtual Choir 3.0 has introduced me to a multitude of choir geeks from around the world. When Eric spoke about the community that has built up, he wasn't exaggerating:

After posting the final take, I joined the throngs who kept checking the submission numbers and encouraged other members who were still working on their recordings. I also couldn't help checking (and re-checking) to make sure my submission was showing up in my VC profile.

Maestro and I celebrated the record number of submissions (3,746 from 73 countries) with people (and pets) from the UK, Australia, Puerto Rico, Canada and the US via Google Hangouts. As a group, we've helped each other with Virtual Choir submissions. We've supported each other through bad days, sad news, health and work problems. We've also celebrated each other's victories - great or small - a good performance, a great shopping spree and most recently, Maestro's birthday. And sometimes, we just hang out e.g. one person knitting, two working, one cooking. There is even talk of having Virtual Choir reunions around the world.

Some of us in Virtual Choir 3.0 are working on more projects together.

This was and continues to be an exciting experience. And speaking of projects, I should start practicing on our next one:

(c) 2012 by Musespeak(TM). All rights reserved.