Saturday, July 18, 2009

What you may not know

What you may not know about me is that I'm actually a choir dork. I write a ton about pop music because I love it, but my real passion, more than opera, more than rock, is choir music. I love the sounds we make, the concentration of so many people for that one perfect moment. There is no experience like it in the world.

I miss the days where I sang in my choir in undergrad. We were an amazing group of musicians with a truly passionate conductor. I learned about some amazing choral composers that I probably would not have come across if it weren't for him. One of my favorites is Eric Whitacre. Not only is he amazingly talented and hotter than any movie star on the screen today, he's also extremely humble. I met him in person about four years ago at Midwest (ok, so I'm a band dork too), and told him how much I love his choral music. He was genuinely surprised and happy, and actually took a few minutes to talk to me. I was completely smitten.

But the most truly amazing thing about him though is his pushing the boundaries of music and technology. He's written an opera called Paradise Lost that infuses technology and live action on stage. One of his more recent projects has also included putting together a virtual choir for his piece entitled Sleep.

The premise is simple. A video of a conductor is posted. Everyone sings along on their own part. The outcome is phenomenal.



And he's going to be doing it again with another of his pieces, Lux Aurumque. You can bet my webcam will be ready for this one.

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