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Here’s a treat for music lovers! It’s hard to believe that these standout choral song covers, taking in popular favorites from different musical styles – from pop to opera, and gospel to musicals – have all come together virtually. Think Zoom meetings but with a dash of pure magic! Enjoy!
1. You’ll Never Walk Alone – Virtual Choir/Orchestra 15 Countries: 300 people
Hear the exquisite sounds created when musicians came together to sing this beautiful song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel. Student and pianist, Harrison Sheckler, arranged this event to fill the void of cancelled Brooklyn College Choir performances and to bring joy to others with the words of You’ll Never Walk Alone and the visual of 300 people joining together.
2. Hallelujah —Coro Virtuale
This video starts with a quote from the song’s Canadian writer, Leonard Cohen: “This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can reconcile and embrace the whole mess. And that is what I mean by Hallelujah.” It’s sung here by Rome choirs Lavinium and SingUp, meeting virtually to sing together.
3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow — Salt Lake Symphonic Choir
This choir got together virtually to sing this beloved ballad composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for actress Judy Garland who sang it in the famous 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.
Each member recorded their own part separately as audio and video in their own home, and the full performance was stitched together digitally, with the goal of bringing hope to the world.
4. True Colors – Camden Voices Choir
Considered one of London’s leading vocal groups, and specializing in jazz, pop and a capella, listen to the Camden Voices Choir singing the song made famous by American singer, Cyndi Lauper. This choir is passionate about adapting: “In a time of physical isolation, we believe more than ever in creating new ways to stay in touch and keep doing the things we love.” Notice how the video suddenly changes from B&W to full color as the song grows to a crescendo.
5. (They Long To Be) Close To You – Couch Choir
We’ll let this choir tell it like it is: “A few days ago, we asked the internet to stop misery scrolling for a moment, and to sing with us! Over 1000 people from 18 countries submitted a video of their performance of Close To You (The Carpenters) in just TWO DAYS. Every submission that we successfully received was manually added to the collective. And then we saw the magic unfold… Plug in those earphones and turn this up.
We can’t adequately express in words what a gift your videos were to us. Each was like unwrapping a beautiful, personal, virtual hug. Thanks for trusting us with your voices, and for sharing your lives with us for a few minutes. We really hope the result gives you something to smile about.”
6. Va pensiero, Nabucco – International Opera Choir
This Italian choir has been profoundly affected by the new normal, and has decided to open the doors of its virtual rehearsal rooms to bring singers and listeners closer to each other through music. Here they are singing composer Verdi’s chorus of slaves. This performance is dedicated to Italy’s frontline health care workers.
7. Waltzing Matilda – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Waltzing Matilda is Australia’s unofficial national anthem. It’s an iconic song written in 1895 about the challenges of the Australian outback and is full of classic Aussie slang. “Waltzing”, for instance, is slang for traveling on foot. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker.
8. Lean on Me – Voices of Eden Gospel Choir
This gospel choir of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is singing this song in tribute to the late Bill Withers who wrote it. This song’s chorus says so much about the value of being able to seek help from our fellow humans during challenging times:
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
9. What a Wonderful World – The Aussie Pops Orchestra
A bunch of Australian artists have got together for your listening pleasure and to raise funds for their fellow musicians finding themselves out of a job. Here’s their version of What a Wonderful World, the jazz song first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967.
10. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Voice of Miami (Girls)
This children’s voice chorus is sending love out to the virtual world by dusting off an old song that means a lot to them. As they explain, singing in a choir requires active listening, blending, cutting off together and so much more. This new way of making music presents new challenges to their sound, but they’re doing a great job of keeping the music going!
11. You’ve Got A Friend — The [Worldwide] cast of BEAUTIFUL
The characters of the actors taking part in this rendition of a song written by Carole King for her 1971 album Tapestry, really come through in this performance. IRL, they are all part of the cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
