A musical experiment in social media
(See previous performances on the site as well)
The Virtual Choir began in May 2009 as a simple experiment in social media, when Britlin Losee – a fan of Eric's music – recorded a video of herself singing "Sleep" and shared it on YouTube. After watching the video, Eric responded by sending a call out to his online fans to purchase Polyphony's recording of "Sleep", record themselves singing along to it, and upload the result.
Virtual Choir 1.0 received over 1 million hits in the first two months of its release.
Ever ambitious, for Virtual Choir 2.0 Eric called for 900 singers to record themselves singing "Sleep". At the final tally he received 2052 contributions from singers in 58 countries.
Upon previewing the video at TED 2011, Eric (and the choir) received two standing ovations – testimony to the power of the internet to connect people of all backgrounds and abilities and create something beautiful across time and space.
(To show to students, you may have to download using keepvid or some other service in order to prevent freezing during playback.)
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