Choir! Choir! Choir! aims for a new viral hit in Charlottetown

A Toronto choir that invites audience members to join in a mass of voices and has had viral hits with a David Bowie tribute and Rufus Wainwright leading Hallelujah is coming to Charlottetown.

Choir! Choir! Choir! has been performing for six years, holding twice-weekly events in Toronto where they teach anyone who shows up how to sing a song, ending the evening by performing it all together.

The group typically attracts 150 to Clinton's Tavern for its twice-weekly shows, but they've also had some much bigger events.

'You feel like you're floating'

Six days after David Bowie died, 550 singers turned out at the Art Gallery of Ontario to sing Space Oddity. The video has had more than 800,000 views.

And then, in June, an even bigger event: Rufus Wainwright led more than 1,500 singers at the Luminato Festival in Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Including views on Wainwright's website and Facebook, the video has been watched more than 20 million times.

Choir! Choir! Choir! co-director Nobu Adilman told CBC Radio's Island Morning that standing at the head of these large groups of singers, untrained as they are, is an incredible experience.

"It's really powerful. Everything that they say about singing and group singing it's all true," said Adilman.

Hearbeats synch, people's guards drop, and it becomes easier to make social connections.

"You feel like you're floating, and I always want to be floating," he said.

Ahead by a Century

With the Tragically Hip at the centre of Canadian consciousness this month, Choir! Choir! Choir! has chosen Ahead by a Century for its performance in Charlottetown Friday.

"[Gord Downie] has travelled the country and just poured his heart out," said Adilman.

"This band and this man are on our minds, and we have this beautiful arrangement for Ahead by a Century and we want to share it."

It's easy to participate. Buy a ticket, and turn up at Confederation Centre's Memorial Hall at 8 p.m. The audience will be taught the song, and they'll sing it together at the end of the night.

The event is a fundraiser for Art in the Open.

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