I got goose bumps the first time I saw the virtual choir performance that Eric Whitacre put together of his Lux Aurumque last year.  That video went viral in a big way and as a result of that success Whitacre has been working on another project, this time with his incredibly popular work, Sleep.  Sleep has always been my favorite of all of his works so far, and in my opinion translates just as well as a wind band piece as it does vocally so I couldn't think of a better piece to use for this Virtual Choir 2.0 project of his.

I found out about the new piece through a TED talk that just came out a day or two ago.  It is a fifteen minute video of Eric on stage at TED talking about how the first one was put together and how inspiring the project was not only to him but also to the people he performed it with thanks to YouTube.  At the end of the talk you are treated to a short sample of the new Sleep video showing the faces of thousands of performers from all over the world who gave their voices to the project.  The full version of Sleep is due to be released on YouTube on April 7th.

When you think about the technical challenges that this project presented it really is a sight to behold and a feast to listen to.