Hello everubody! 
My name is Ivana and Iām from Serbia. This is my first time to be a part of Virtual choir and Iām very excited about it! Iām a proffesional musician and I sing and play when I was 10 years old until now. I also playing piano and flute, composing a little, teaching music and after the summer I will become a condacter of woman choir! 
I hear for Virtual chor from my friend. That was so interesting and important to me, so I sighn up. And this is why: Trough the history, artist where been creative and inovative in every period or epoch where they live. In this ,digital era", Eric way to performing music is very inovative and this is a very big step. That is way singing in Virtual choir means a lot to me, like an artist! Like all of you, I becomeing a part of something very big for this era! <3
Meet the Choir. Why did you join Virtual Choir 5?
I am a resident of Naperville, IL - the second largest city in the state - but the drop-down only gave me the option of being from Chicago. Go Cubs.
I sang and soloed in my church and high school choirs half a century ago, but I hadnāt done any singing except to my daughter when she was a baby since then. I love music of all kinds and I have been playing piano since I was 14 (note: Iām a piano player, not a pianist; anyone who is either knows the difference). I found a link to VC1, Lux Aurumque, on another website I frequent, and I was blown away. I think Iāve watched it a hundred times and it never gets old.
It was not hard to find Ericās site, and I learned about the subsequent VCs there. I was thrilled when VC4 was announced and was determined to be a part of it. I submitted both the bass and tenor 2 parts (I can pretend to be a tenor if you donāt ask me to sing anything higher than E3) and was immensely proud to see my name in the credits when it came out. I have yet to find my window in Paradise City, but Iām still trying.
I also participated in World of Color Honor Choir, although I did not make the cut. I should probably have mentioned that I hold stock in Disney along with some photos of my family vacations at WDW when I submitted. However, Glow is such a beautiful song that I still play it often, continuing to rehearse my part every time.
Iāve had a lot of health problems over the last 6 years, and I wondered if I would ever get to do this again. Eric, I am grateful to you for giving this old man another chance to be part of something beautiful.
Hi all! Iām Theresa (Terry) Topham from Indiana, USA. I was in school and church choirs as well as community theater from grade school through a handful of post university years. I was also an instrumentalist and worked my way through college playing the organ for weddings and teaching organ and piano at a music studio. Then I āgot seriousā and for the next several decades abandoned music while I concentrated on my family and career. I always pushed my kids to try music in any venue, but they were never as enthusiastic as I had been. I discovered Eric Whitacre when I ran across a TED talk about his Virtual Choirs. I could not wait to join VC4!! What an exciting experience! And five years later - Deep Field. Yes, I am a singer at heart and wish I had a more balanced life in the past. It wouldnāt be so darned difficult to sing again!!! But I still love it.
Hello! I heard about VC5 from a friend. Iām from SE Oregon, USA. This is the first time I have ever submitted a recording. As Iām ātechnologically challengedā, I was a bit nervous to do this. Iām so thankful to the support team! They were so helpful and encouraging! As I recently had major surgery, (jaw joint replacements) this was a personal challenge and mandate I couldnāt refuse. So thankful for the opportunity to participate in this. Thanks to all of you! I sing with a group, play piano, mandolin, mountain (lap) dulcimer, attempting to learn guitar, and also compose.
Hello all! Iām a soprano from Texas, USA and have been involved in choir for as long as I can remember. Singing has always been my passion and now that Iām in college, I donāt make much time for it as I used to. Seeing this unique opportunity pop up, I jumped in right away! This is my first time being apart of the VC and I can already say that it is exhilarating! I cannot wait to see the finished product.
Hi! My name is Jen, and I am from Michigan USA.
I didnāt even know who Eric Whitacre was until university. Because of that, I hadnāt heard of the virtual choir until the 3rd one lol. Thankfully, I sang Water Night in choir the year before, so I already knew my part and was able to submit a video quicklyā¦haha. I loved how everything was put together and loved the end result. Ever since then, Iāve participated in all the virtual choirs I could.
Iāve always loved to sing, and was in choir in high school and most of college. I love that this allows me to still be a part of something that I love so much, even though I havenāt found a community choir. I canāt wait to see how this video turns out!
Hi, Iām William from South Africa, and Iāve been waiting to join the VC since the last one was released. Iāve enjoyed singing in choirs since I was at school. I play viola and violin, but Iām not studying music. I am in fact busy with my Masterās in Astrophysics (focusing on Cosmology), so I was excited to see that VC5 has an astronomical theme!
Hi Iām Stephanie! Iām a second soprano from Plano, TX. I joined VC5 because Iāve always wanted to work on a virtual choir. This is my first virtual choir, but Iāve always loved seeing the other virtual choirs. I was too young to sing in any of the previous ones. Iāve been singing for 7 years now, and Iām so excited to be a part of Deep Field!
I joined because
my parents are musicians but they donāt like music like they had in those old times.
So they didnāt support me being as a musician, now Iām a damn engineering student.
But I canāt live without music, thats why I need to be a part of this great love harmony.
Hi Elisabeth!
Thanks for letting me know about the group! Thatās really exciting! I donāt use much social media, which I know seems odd for someone in my generation, but knowing something like that is waiting for me makes visiting Facebook more often worth it!
Im Carolynn Nemeth. Iām from Albany,NY. This is my first virtual choir experience. I was listening to the virtual choir from the Dear Evan Hansen and VC1-4 were recommended. I listened to them and saw VC5 was still open. Iāve been a singer since third grade in many choirs. Iām excited to try out this vc!
I was an engineer for 38 years but I never let go of my music, either. Trust me, you will earn more money in that field, and you will find that a lot of other engineers are also musicians. They seem to go together.
My name is Kaitlyn Sapp, and this is my first VC experience; however, I have known about the VC after watching VC 2.0: Sleep in 2014 with my choir! I am an alumni of the Southeast Bulloch High School Choral Program in Brooklet, GA, and we have, for 5 years, sung many amazing pieces written by Eric. Many of our choir members and alumni have performed in the VC; however, I wanted to experience what it was like! I have always been fascinated by Ericās style of teaching and directing, and I have shown many of my fellow choir members the teachings from his JW Pepper interviews āThe Inside Voiceā. I am so excited to see the finished product, and I cannot wait to see everyone from around the globe coming together to create something so inspiring!
Hi Everyone!
First of all I am very happy to be here! I first came across the Virtual Choir a couple of years ago when looking videos to show my middle school choir students. I am a music teacher and I have taught choir and private music lessons. I love to sing and I play piano as well as violin, viola, and cello. I was mesmerized when I saw a few performances by the Virtual Choir. I signed up to make sure that I could participate in the next upcoming one and I am glad that I did! I hope to participate in many more. This has been a wonderful experience and Iām glad to share it with those that have a real love of music.
Even though I am a music teacher, I miss the choral performance experience as a musician myself. It is harder to get that living in a rural area. I think this is a wonderful way to bring choral experience to those that may not otherwise be able to get to it.
Several members of Coro Intermezzo, a choir located in Costa Rica, Central America decided to join in after several of years following the virtual choir. We are very excited about being part of this project with our voices!! Thank you Eric Whitacre for writting wonderful music for choir and for this opporrunity. We hope to have you in Costa Rica in a near future for a concert with us!!
Hi there, Iām Salli from the UK, living about 20 miles west of London. I took part in Virtual Choir 4 so jumped at the chance to get involved again. I have sung in choirs in the past and need to get back into singing regularly. I love Eric Whitacreās music and ideally would like to find a choir or small singing group that is involved in this kind of music. Just after Virtual Choir 4 I was at Heathrow Airport seeing some relations off to New Zealand and spotted Eric going through departures. I surprised myself by yelling "Eric - Virtual Choir 4! over the crowds of people between us. To my surprise he came back from passport check, said hi and got my brother to take a pic of the two of us - what a nice guy. This forum is such a good way of getting to say hi to fellow participants, we all need to know we are part of something much bigger and can enjoy the camaraderie.
Hey!
I am Zane from West Virginia. I am pretty involved in my high schoolās music department, and got word of the virtual choir through Twitter. Show choir is my biggest thing in WV (go Good Times!!), but I also participated in Allstate last year. I jumped on the idea as soon as I saw word of VC5, as I was super interested in the other virtual choirs!
Iām from Brazil and a great fan of Eric Whitacre. I sing in a choir here that is called Boca que Usa. We travel a lot around the world to learn and to compete. I am happy I participated this time. Regards to all my choir friends. 
Hi! Iām based in Freedom, NH but Iām traveling the USA in my 29 foot travel trailer. This is my third virtual choir experience. I had sung Ericās music in several choral groups throughout Maine and New Hampshire. VC4 was my first time singing with Eric directing and I was hooked. After that I sang with him live at Carnegie Hall in 2014, thanks to DCINY. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet and sing with so many people Iād become friends with on Facebook. This year, I sang with Eric again at Carnegie Hall. It was such a memorable weekend meeting up with VC Friends, hanging out, rehearsing and singing with Eric again. Singing in the Virtual Choir and in person with Eric Whitacre and so many wonderful friends is a win win!!