If you believe the sound of a choir singing “Hallelujah” would give you goosebumps – just imagine how powerful it would be if the choir consisted of 1,500 vocalists. This is exactly what occurred at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, Canada thanks to the music group Choir! Choir! Choir!.
Amazingly, there was even a special guest who helped lead the chilling performance, none other than Rufus Wainwright himself. It’s a video so beautiful it’s leaving some viewers in tears.
Choir! Choir! Choir! brings people around the world together through music.
Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman (DaBu) are the two performing artists behind Choir! Choir! Choir!, a program that allows strangers to unite and sing a song together. It started in 2011 as a “weekly drop-in singing event.” But now, on top of having regular events in Toronto – they tour internationally and have racked up over 47 million views on YouTube.
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Their website explains:
“Equal parts singing, comedy, and community-building, the night unfolds like a dream: you get a lyric sheet at the door, DaBu teach you the vocal arrangement, and a video is recorded. Everyone has a ball and goes home feeling great!”
Choir! Choir! Choir! performances take place in various settings and they cover a wide variety of tunes.
One time, 1,999 vocalists gathered at Massey Hall to sing “When Doves Cry” as a tribute to Prince. In other videos, crowds can be seen singing tunes by artists like Cher, Katy Perry, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, ABBA, Michael Jackson, and many more. There’s one thing they all have in common – they’re moving to watch.
1,500 people met at the Hearn Generating Station to perform Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The video has since been viewed over 11 million times.
Choir! Choir! Choir! invited renowned musician, Rufus Wainwright, to lead the crowd in singing “Hallelujah,” which is a tune he’s sung before. He has a solo version that appears on the Shrek soundtrack album.
Wainwright sings the lyrics of “Hallelujah” with 1,500 backup singers, which is set to the strumming of a guitar.
The sound of all the voices combined is spine-tingling, to say the least. But watching the faces of the vocalists brings it to another level. Although they’re people of different ages and backgrounds – they’re all joined as one through the power of music.
Don’t be surprised if you need a tissue watching this performance.
Listening to Wainwright’s voice intertwined with the choir is an unbelievable treat. It’s a room full of passion that you can hear, as well as see, in them all.
Choir! Choir! Choir! founders “DaBu” are on stage with Wainwright during the performance.
Daveed plays the guitar while Nobu conducts. According to the YouTube description, they spent time teaching the participants the back-up parts of the song before inviting Wainwright out to be the lead vocalist.
While each member of the choir will likely never forget the experience, neither will Wainwright. Weeks after the performance, the musician left a comment on Twitter saying that singing with the 1,500 vocalists was “pretty unreal.”
Viewers have been touched by the performance, leaving comments like:
“This took my breath away and I couldn’t help but cry at the beauty of it.”
Another person recently wrote:
“I can’t stop watching this. I have always loved this song but it has so much more meaning right now with everything going on right now in the world.”
It’s a soul-lifting performance you don’t want to miss! Press play below to see more than 1,500 people sing “Hallelujah.”
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