Singers from a great variety of Whatcom County choirs will be featured in a virtual performance of “Bright Morning Stars,” a stirring Appalachian folk hymn. The film will be posted on YouTube in mid-May, where it can be enjoyed by viewers across the county, the nation and the world.
Whatcom County choristers of all ages, from high school on up, are invited to participate via this website: https://www.choirofthesalishsea.com/virtual-choir-information.
The website includes a downloadable musical score and all needed materials, including an instructional video, in which singers are coached on how to film and record themselves at home using their computer and cell phone.
Whatcom Sings! will be professionally edited, and include local professional soloists JP Falcon Grady and Ibidunni Ujikutu, together with thumbnail videos of each participating singer, mixed in with iconic Whatcom County aerial footage.
“Bright Morning Stars” is a simply gorgeous, heart-felt and inspiring song,” says Kevin Allen-Schmid, creator of Whatcom Sings Virtual Choir Project and music director of Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship and the Choir of the Salish Sea. “It calls us to care for one another while maintaining social distance. And singing together, even virtually, answers our burning desire to make music together, somehow, during these challenging times.”
Each singer will record at home, with the video blending all the voices together in harmony.
Participation is free. Singers are encouraged to make a $20 donation to Interfaith Coalition, a local nonprofit that helps Whatcom County families experiencing homelessness, at https://www.interfaith-coalition.org
As many as 200 singers are expected to take part, with high school, college, and community choirs joining in. “The more, the better!” Allen-Schmid said. “Let’s create something beautiful while helping our neighbors most in need.”
Allen-Schmid invites choristers to jump into this project now.
“Please join us in presenting this musical message of caring to Whatcom County and the world,” he says. “Pass the word among your choir friends – it will be more fun if you figure this out together with others (online, of course) – and help each other finish your films in order to submit them by May 8, 2020.