by UPDATE: Here it is. Once again, too impossible to find myself, and that’s not the point really (it would be fun though!).
Below is a screenshot from my Virtual Choir 4 submission. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Virtual Choir, it was created by composer Eric Whitacre. “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.” Whitacre invited others to do the same, and the videos were edited into a choir. It has since become something Whitacre does regularly and the 4th one debuts today.
I was in the last one and I’ll be in this one too, although I never found my face in the last one. I must admit I didn’t try very hard. It was too much work, there were 2,945 people in Virtual Choir 3! And there are 5,903 in Virtual Choir 4, so we shall see if I can spot myself this time. But this is what I looked like (beautiful earrings by Nora Brown of Ontario). I decided to sing the soprano 2 part. People who have already read my book will appreciate that.
Oh, I should post my behind-the-scenes setup for my video submission. Please scroll down …
In the video you see me singing in front of a blanket (we were asked to have uncluttered backgrounds). Out of camera reach you see the real story—my desperate attempts to look my best.
In any case, I’m dying to see the result!! It debuts at the celebration of the Queen’s coronation, so the UK is seeing it first. I’ll post a link to it as soon as it appears online.
I heard the Brian Lehrer interview on WNYC. You were great! You kept the interview on track when Brian (who always thinks he’s funny) tried to make a stupid joke (right in the beginning of the interview…I was in the car and it was four hours ago, sorry I can’t remember the “witticism”), or when he asked you about the movie you haven’t seen (he’s such a dope) and you talked about the movie you DID see : way to keep control of the conversation.
You came off very well, and you sounded a lot smarter than Brian. I usually find him very annoying but you held your own and said the right things about the benefits of reading your book (you’ll find a possible recipe for happiness, you’ll learn some fascinating science). They should have given you a longer segment — I can’t be the one listener who would have liked to hear you go on more about the book and your research and your historical context.
Aww, thanks for all the feedback, but I love Brian!!! Honestly, I think he’s one of the most gifted interviewers out there. And part of his gift was sitting back when I went off in different directions, and smiling and encouraging me.