You don't have to be an opera star to make your singing debut at Lincoln Center this summer.
In fact, you don't even have to audition to sing in a chorus of 1,000 voices in the world premiere of "the public domain," a new work composed by Pulitzer-Prize winner and Oscar nominee David Lang.
The Mostly Mozart and Lincoln Center Out of Doors festivals are inviting New Yorkers to register online to participate in the Aug. 13th performance in Lincoln Center Plaza.
"This piece is a kind of utopian activity, an experiment in how to build a better world," Lang says in a YouTube video introducing his piece as a exercise in community development. "And I have a feeling there are a lot of people in New York who would like to build a better world."
Volunteers can choose on a first-come, first-serve basis from one five practice groups — three meeting in Manhattan, one in Park Slope and another in Astoria — when they sign up.
Each group will convene for six three-hour-long rehearsals and a dress rehearsal. Volunteers aren't expected to read music or memorize lyrics. (You'll be doing some whispering and talking in addition to singing, all without musical accompaniment, but the music itself is "very simple," Lang says in his video.)
A music director will lead each group through the music and a stage director will teach simple choreography at the rehearsals.
Children ages 10 to 17 are welcome to sing if their parents are involved, and all participants are expected to sign waivers, or ask guardians to sign one on their behalf, to grant Lincoln Center use of their image.
