Sigma Alpha Iota

NEA Honorees their publicly recognized and accessible body of work in the field of jazz.  Each year since 1982, the Arts Endowment has conferred the NEA Jazz Masters Award to living legends who have made major contributions to jazz. With this new class, 132 awards have been given to great figures of jazz in America, including Count Basie, George Benson, Art Blakey, SAI National Arts Associate Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, John Levy, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Cecil Taylor, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and the Marsalis Family, including SAI National Arts Associate Wynton Marsalis. NEA Jazz Masters are selected from nominations submitted by the public and receive a one-time fellowship award of $25,000, are honored at a public awards ceremony, and may participate in NEA-sponsored promotional, performance, and educational activities. Only living musicians or jazz advocates may be nominated for the NEA Jazz Masters honor. For the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters, the panel considered 144 nominations. In addition to NEA Jazz in the Schools, a partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NEA's jazz programs include NEA Jazz Masters Live, a series of performance and educational engagements in selected communities, featuring NEA Jazz Masters; radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; and publications and reports. About the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education and advocacy. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, education, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose Hall, "The House of Swing") and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Robert J. Appel, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, an SAI National Arts Associate, and Executive Director Greg Scholl. CLICK FOR MORE FOr more information, visit nea.gov/honors/jazz/ Virtual Choir Combines Voices of Thousands W hen used properly, technology can be an amazing tool that can be used to bring the world together. Eric Whitacre has taken this to a whole new level, creating a virtual choir comprised of 5,905 singers from 101 countries to perform his new composition, "Fly to Paradise," from his musical, Paradise Lost. A Grammy-winning composer and conductor, Whitacre is Composer in Residence at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, UK. He received his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School , studying with Pulitzer Prize and Oscar-winning composer, John Corigliano, a member of the SAI Composers Bureau. He received an Honorary Patronage from Trinity College Philosophical Society, Dublin. He is also the youngest recipient of the Raymond C. Brock commission from the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and has received composition awards from the Barlow International Composition Competition, the ACDA, and the American Composers Forum. The virtual choir came into being when a fan of Eric Whitacre's music, Britlin Losee, recorded herself singing one of his pieces entitled "Sleep." Eric was so moved by her performance, he encouraged other vocalists to record themselves singing along to "Sleep" as well and to upload Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre the results. Eric decided to record himself conducting another one of his compositions, "Lux Aurumque," and asked vocalists to sing along to that as well. The Virtual Choir was born. The most recent incarnation of the Virtual Choir, VC4, has 5,905 singers from 101 countries participating. These vocalists submitted over 8,400 videos using webcams, smartphones, tablets, and video cameras to record themselves in bedrooms, bathrooms, and basements across the world. Each video was captured and synchronized utilizing advanced technology, making the final product sound like a seamless performance. Soloists were chosen from vocal submissions, and they were led by Grammy soprano, Hila Plitmann, Eric's wife. Funds were raised for the project through 1,900 Kickstarter backers who pledged over $122,000, and "Fly to Paradise" was mixed with an electronic sound bed, so it can be remixed by DJs and producers. "I desperately wanted to release the audio from Virtual Choir but was assured by a dozen different lawyers that with 101 copyright territories it would be impossible," Whitacre said. "So instead I made a version of 'Fly to Paradise' with The Eric Whitacre Singers, available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc. Proceeds will go back into choral projects just like this one. "Fly to Paradise" was released to the public on July 11 and has quickly become an internet sensation. The song was part of the Coronation Festival Gala to honor Queen Elizabeth II, broadcast on BBC 1 TV/Radio 2. Virtual Choir members are all visually represented in the video, with the video performances that they submitted being integrated into the windows of the virtual city. "VC4: you all just sang for the Royal Family," Whitacre posted on his Facebook page. "I'm getting endless compliments for the power and beauty of your voices. BRAVISSIMI!" CLICK FOR MORE To learn more about the project, visit ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir sai-national.org SUMMER 2013 PAN PIPES 9

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