Virtual Choir-- What kind of issue is it? Or isn't it?

In the wake of schools moving to online schooling, there has been a large number of people asking about Virtual Choirs.  I'm amazed at the conversations around this issue.

First, it seems that some people were under the impression that a "Virtual Choir" meant that you could actually rehearse online.  I'm sorry, but that isn't possible.  It's a disappointment, for sure, but there we are.  Eric Whitacre's team has been working on something (apparently-- so I've heard), but they can't fix the latency of the internet.

Second, a lot of choral professionals have been in discussion about HOW to do a virtual choir.  Everything from making click tracks to creating the conductor track to the software it takes to do the A/V editing to the amount of time it takes.  There have been great discussions about this and a lot of teachers have shared their knowledge and experience.  It's been an inspiring thing to see.

Third, there was then a backlash against the "let's make a virtual choir" folk.  I get it-- there are legitimate questions about the purpose of a choir, the educational outcomes of a in-person choir versus a virtual choir, and the very important "is the time spent by the teacher worth the outcome" question.  I have really appreciated reading these discussions in online forums.  And it's nice to see that everybody's music education philosophy is so robust.  No, seriously-- think about how you feel about virtual choirs, and your belief is likely influenced by your philosophy of music education or philosophy of teaching or philosophy of church music, etc.

BUT (and here it comes), the backlash against virtual choirs seems to be rooted, for some, in ego.  "What is the outcome, really? What are you really providing the students?  A choir is NOT online.  What about X?  But you can't do Z.  You aren't providing a real education outcome-- it's a selfish endeavor-- it's for yourself, not for the students." Etc, etc, etc.  And I cry "foul."  Because a virtual choir is not simply setting up a click track and telling your students to submit you recordings.

But wait, let's pretend for a moment that a virtual choir is ONLY that. Setting up a click track, telling your singers to submit a recording to them singing a click track.  Then you put in 40-80 hours of work (by some estimates) to produce a song that you probably could have done better live.  You share it with your choir and then what?  I'll tell you this: my students love the idea of working on something individually but still sharing in the final product.  No, it's not what they would prefer.  But they what to have something to end this semester on.  They don't want to just... end it.  It's not for you (the listener or the conductor), it's for your students.  And also-- it keeps them singing.

So now let's back up: Is a virtual choir simply having your singers record themselves singing to a click track?  Depends how you set it up.  This is potentially a great chance to give your students multiple weeks of dedicated feedback on their voice and your expectations from a singer.  That will, of course, enhance their musical growth and contribute to their skill set for future choral participation.

And here comes another but to the big BUT (that I typed earlier)... if a teacher chooses not to lead their singers toward a virtual choir project, that's also okay.  I am seeing so many innovative, engaging activities and projects that choral conductors are asking their singers to do.

The moral here is this: You can voice your questions about the educational purpose of an online choral experience, and these questions are useful.  But not if they are posed from a position of ego and conceit.

I, for one, am grateful that there is a sudden outpouring of ideas from choral conductors.  I will take these ideas, I will steal them, and I will share them with my students for when they have choirs.  Perhaps it will encourage us to be more innovative, or perhaps it will teach us to articulate the importance of the communal, in-person experience that a choir is.  Or both.