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The Virginia Tech Philharmonic, VT Chamber Singers, Tech Men, and VT Women's Chorus are excited to perform and record the world premiere of Dr. Dwight Bigler's Mosaic for Earth, on April 3, 2022, at Virginia Tech's Moss Arts Center. This 75-minute new work for choir and orchestra weaves together music, environmental science, visual arts, and literature to celebrate the wonders of nature and explore humanity's impact on the environment. The Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts ensembles will be joined by the Blacksburg Master Chorale and Blacksburg Children's Chorale for this event, with special guest soprano soloist and Virginia Tech alumna, Danielle Talamantes.
The 170 Virginia Tech student performers and 130 and community singers will fill the concert hall with music and a message that will be recorded and distributed worldwide by the Tonsehen recording label. Tonsehen will record, edit, mix, and master standard audio/video versions of the concert as well as in an immersive, 360º format. These recordings will be available on all of the major online music streaming platforms.
We Need Your Help
Your support to help us raise $8,000 is critical to our successful partnership with Tonsehen. During their residency, they will mentor our VT music technology majors as they complete each step of the recording process:
This campaign will help to fund approximately 1/3 of the recording cost.
Showcase a VT Arts and Science Collaboration on an International Stage
The VT Choirs and Philharmonic highlight the well-rounded and extremely talented students at Virginia Tech. The ensembles include students from every College at Virginia Tech: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Natural Resources and Environment, and Science. Representing over 55 majors, these students are the flagship of Virginia Tech as they pursue excellence in carrying out Virginia Tech's motto, Ut prosim (That I May Serve).
Your support of this project will help us showcase Virginia Tech's talented students, faculty, alumni, and community, but will provide a foundation for future research projects and serve as a model for future performances of Mosaic for Earth.
Bigler is collaborating with faculty in the VT's Myers-Lawson School of Construction and Environmental Sciences to present community outreach events leading up to the concert and recording. The Department of English will bring one of the authors of the text being sung in Mosaic to campus to engage students in creative conversations.
During the concert, digital images will be projected on large screens to enhance the performance and recording. Designed by VT's David Franusich, the projections will feature David's engaging visual content created here in the Blue Ridge Mountains and New York City artist Barbara Wolff's stunning illuminations, Psalm 104: You renew the face of the earth.
The Blacksburg Master Chorale is a key collaborator on this project. In addition to supporting the creation of the piece itself, they have committed significant funds towards this recording project and will be singing with the VT student musicians in the premiere.
For more details about Mosaic for Earth, visit www.mosaicforearth.com.
In honor of a species of poison dart frog endemic to western Panama, now classified as extinct.
In honor of this beautiful blue parrot, declared officially extinct in the wild in 2020. Brazil is working to re-introduce this rare bird to its native habitat.
Give in honor of this noble animal, declared extinct in January 2000. This ibex was most common in the Cantabrian Mountains, Southern France, and the northern Pyrenees.
A keystone species in the Appalachian Mountains and an important part of early American life, scientists continue to work on reviving this tree after it was decimated by blight in the early 1900s.
Make a gift in honor of the largest heart on Earth, weighing in at 400 pounds. The blue whale's heartbeat can be detected from two miles away!
Dig deep to give all you can! This creative project will be distributed internationally - you never know who your gift will touch or whose life will be changed!
The summit of this mountain in Ecuador is 6,800 feet farther from Earth's center than Mt. Everest. It is the closest point on Earth to the stars.