1,000 Singers Trying to Find B Flat (The New York Times)
The New York Times, August 11, 2016
1,000 Singers Trying to Find B Flat
MOUNTING a new choral piece for 1,000 singers is not for the faint of heart — or the disorganized. That is one thing Lincoln Center has learned as it prepares to present the premiere of David Lang’s “the public domain” around its fountain late Saturday afternoon at a free concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mostly Mozart Festival. First, organizers had to recruit 1,000 singers, many of them amateurs (ability to read music not required). Some responded to social-media invitations to “make your #LincolnCenter debut.” Others came from New York’s richly varied vocal scene: well-known large ensembles as well as church choirs, synagogue choruses, the New York City Bar Chorus and a kaleidoscope of other groups. By the time rehearsals began this summer, more than 2,000 people had registered, leaving a healthy margin for attrition.
