It is almost time for the long-awaited reveal of Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Youth Choir. The wildly popular Virtual Choir project has a new flavor this time around, focusing completely on the voices of those 18 and under.
Children as young as two years old practiced and recorded a specially arranged version of Whitacre’s “What If” tailored toward younger voices. The completed video will be revealed at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which start on July 23rd. It will also be broadcast globally and streamed online at the same time.
This is the fifth installment of Whitacre’s Virtual Choir. It started small, with 185 voices from 12 countries, and has grown into a worldwide phenomenon since then. This is Virtual Choir geared exclusively toward youth singers. It launched in May and quickly amassed an enormous number of submissions.
All told, 2,292 singers from 80 different countries submitted videos to the project. You can see many of the audition videos at https://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir/history/virtual-youth-choir and read about the process as well. The project is working in partnership with UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organization. Founded in 1946, UNICEF is an organ of the United Nations originally created to bring food and health care to war-torn Europe. Today, it has stations in 190 countries worldwide.
Check the Youth Choir website for updates on the release with specific times and where you can watch.
