MUSYCA Children's Choir was featured on NBC LA Channel 4 News at 11:00PM on December 23, 2020. The episode will be repeated several times on NBC during the holiday season.
The news segment, entitled "Virtual Choir Performance" showcased MUSYCA's Harmony Ensemble and Young Men's Chorus performing "Believe" from animated motion picture The Polar Express. In this groundbreaking virtual video the choir appears to be singing on stage in a beautiful choral production, with singers standing shoulder to shoulder on risers, without masks or social distancing. This stunning performance is in fact a virtual choir miracle, created in the middle of the pandemic with all the social distancing and safety precautions. Each singer was recorded separately outdoors, in front of a green screen. Each arrived in 15-minute increments, and never even saw each other. The individual videos were combined into a breathtaking virtual choir performance in post-production. This video project is a collaboration between MUSYCA and Hollywood film producer Bill Lae.
NBC News Segment Transcript:
Chuck Henry: "Good choir is always a highlight of the Holiday season, but the need to be socially distanced makes that almost impossible."
Kathy Vara: "Well, MUSYCA Children's Choir managed to pull it off. So, sit back and enjoy their creativity and talent."
MUSYCA performs "Believe" from The Polar Express.
Jadon (Singer, Young Men's Chorus): "So we've all been just working on our own parts, individually. It's almost like magic, you know. You learn your part, you go and sing it, and everyone else does the same, and when you put all of this together, it just auto-harmonizes it, I guess (laughs)."
Natalie (Singer, Harmony Ensemble): "We came in 15-minute intervals, we sang with the green screen in the back, and...to see the final product, it was incredible to see... And it's amazing what technology can do".
Dr. Anna Krendel (MUSYCA's Executive Director): "We try to have consistency in kids' lives, so back in March [2020] we started our [online] rehearsals and we kept the same schedule, same days, same times, so there is always something consistent in their lives."
Jadon: "Usually choir is all about unity, so doing it individually was a new experience."
MUSYCA Children's Choir: "Just Believe!"
Chuck Henry: "They sound terrific, absolutely terrific!"
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