15 year old sings opera

In this remarkable video of Australian singer Mark Vincent, one can see the amazing musical achievements of which young people are capable. Ragazzi Young Men are also amazing singers and many of them sing opera too. Enjoy this stunning performance of Nessun Dorma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOczKJ6LDk

Music connects us

Music connects us even if we are not all in the same room. In this amazing video, we see composer/conductor Eric Whitacre conduct a virtual choir in his awe-inspiring piece “Lux Arumque.” Ragazzi men and boys sang this piece several years ago. Eric Whitacre is a young composer whose music is a favorite of choral conductors around the world. For this project, he posted a video in which he conducted in silence and he then offered the sheet music as a free download to anyone willing to join in. As singers began posting their individual tracks, he called for ‘auditions’ for the soprano solo. Here is Eric Whitacre’s own description of the event:

“When I saw the finished video for the first time I actually teared up. The intimacy of all the faces, the sound of the singing, the obvious poetic symbolism about our shared humanity and our need to connect; all of it completely overwhelmed me. And it must be said that a lot of the credit for its beauty should go to Scottie Haines who spent untold hours editing and polishing the video. (BTW, Scottie and I have only met once in the ‘real world’, unlike 99% of the Virtual Choir, whom I’ve never ‘met’)…. Lastly, I’m hoping that this is just the beginning. My ultimate goal is to write an original piece for the Virtual Choir and have it receive it’s world premiere in cyber-space, hundreds (maybe thousands) of people singing alone, together.”

To see the “concert”, go to this Youtube link (you can select it and copy it and put it into your browser):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

You can be the conductor!

Bravo Gustavo! Gustavo Dudamel is the young conductor from Venezuela who is taking the USA by storm. He was recently appointed music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In response to the excitement created by his arrival in LA (his appearance here in San Francisco next fall is already sold out) Scott Arenstein has created a special music game Bravo Gustavo!. In an iPhone application, one can use the phone as a baton and conduct the orchestra using Dudamel’s virtual shoes. With Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique users try to strike the right key at the right moment to accent the music. You earn points for each correct click as the iPhone puts you in front of a virtual orchestra. The tempo of the orchestra responds to the movement of the iPhone “conductor”. The goal for Arenstein is to reach out to people not familiar with classical music and give them a unique experience. Since tickets for Dudamel’s concerts are all sold out, this application also allows people to get engaged with him without going to a concert. The music had to be slightly altered to afford the best opportunities for gaming and, while this is common in pop music, this was a new venture for classical musicians. So if you see someone waving their iPhone on the streets, you may see someone aiming to become the next wunderkind of conducting.