Join the World’s Largest Virtual Choir

Composer Eric Whitacre, who rocked You Tube earlier this year by conducting an online choir of 185 singers from over 20 countries, is now recruiting singers for his next virtual choir.

Between now and December 31, singers can videotape themselves singing Whitacre’s composition “Sleep”, using sheet music uploaded from the composer’s website and conducted by him in an online video. Uploading your video to YouTube will then allow Whitacre to grab it and compile the choir for a performance sometime next year.

Whitacre hopes to break the current virtual choir record of 900 singers held by The Amplichoir, a marketing campaign in which singers uploaded themselves singing “Lollipop” in hopes of winning free tickets to the 2009 MTV Music Awards.

There are no freebies being offered for Whitacre’s virtual choir members, other than the chance to be a part of something incredibly special. I’ve signed on and am currently learning “Sleep” , with plans to upload it sometime in October. (You can listen here to some of the videos already submitted to You Tube.)

You needn’t be a professional singer or have the world’s most perfect voice to join this virtual choir. In fact, Whitacre says that he has yet to turn a singer away  –

Just the act of learning the music, singing a take that’s 5 minutes long and uploading it on You Tube to an entire world community, generally weeds out most of the people that would’t make it anyway.  But…one of the great things about choral music, and one of the things that I like – not being a great singer – is that the mass of voices tends to blend out those that aren’t so beautiful.

So if  you love to sing, as I do, I hope you’ll join in the music. It’s going to me amazing!