VIDEO: Pittsburgh Youth Chorus Premieres 'Under One Sky'

Pittsburgh Youth Chorus premiered their newest virtual choir video of the song "Under One Sky" on YouTube on May 1. The song was composed by PYC's Executive Director, Lee Saville-Iksic, and inspired by words written by PYC students.

Listen below!

Edited by Pittsburgh's Cana Films with audio mixing and production from Chris Leidhecker, this virtual choir video is the culmination of a year of virtual rehearsals for PYC students and conductors. The video features performances by 38 PYC singers in grades 3-12 who, at the time of recording, had yet to sing the song together in the same room.

"Our team wanted a season theme that evoked a sense of unity and connectedness despite all that was happening in the world," said Lee Saville-Iksic, PYC's Executive Director. "We zeroed in on the sky as a powerful symbol of those qualities. When I was getting started with the writing process, I sent a handful of prompts to the singers to draw out their thoughts and feelings about the theme, as well as any related stories they might have to share. The words they shared with me were touching and poignant, inspiring the lyrics that were eventually set to the music that had already been dancing around in my head, as well as helping to shape the melody of one of the sections early in the song."

The release of "Under One Sky" comes just as PYC prepares for a return to in-person programming. The organization's Summer Singers Camp will return to Pittsburgh from August 2-6 at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve and to Grove City from August 4-6 at Grove City College. The fall season will begin in-person September 13, with income-based sliding scale tuition available to families for the first time.

"The 'Under One Sky' video closes an unprecedented chapter for PYC," said Saville-Iksic. "Our conductors met the challenge to provide high-quality choral education to our students through Zoom, and the virtual constraints provided an opportunity for us to be creative in the way we engaged with our students, like creating this video."

Arden Anderson, age 13, wrote the following words that are spoken in the middle of the video: "The earth is small, and it only has one sky. Learning how to share it has become more important than ever. One sun, one moon, one sky. We can always look up and say to ourselves, 'I am not alone.'"

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