The think method

I just got back from New York, where my daughter performed with a group of around 200 high school singers in a presentation of choral music, written and conducted by a guy named Eric Whitacre. He has one album of his music out, which apparently has been a strong seller, and is probably best known for something called Virtual Choir, where he "conducts" a group of 2000 individual singers whose video auditions were accepted singing one of his compositions. It's actually pretty cool.

Once my daughter was accepted to Virtual Choir, she noticed on the web site that he was accepting audition videos for a live performance at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. So she auditioned for that and was accepted. At this point, alarm bells are going off in my head, as they should when one is "accepted" to something which they then tell you will cost hundreds of dollars to participate in. It absolutely smelled like a scam to me, but we went along with it because in this day and age we do these kinds of things for our kids..

When you see pictures of this guy and hear him speak, it's hard not to be convinced that he is some sort of shyster salesman, like Harold Hill selling instruments for a nonexistent band. Yeah, they were booked to play at Avery Fisher, but anyone can rent the hall and try to sell enough tickets to cover their cost. But this guy is model gorgeous with perfect, and I mean really perfect, hair. He is also glib, articulate, solicitous, funny, charismatic and full of big ideas, just as you would expect a scam artist to be.

But much like Harold Hill's band, this thing ended up being a great experience for pretty much everyone, including my daughter. She was blown away by the scale of the thing and by having the chance to meet and practice with Whitacre. She was also afforded some special attention because she was in Virtual Choir as well and because she was participating as an individual, not as part of a singing ensemble like majority of participants.

By the end, when we accidentally ended up walking to the post-concert reception with him and his manager, Eric had completely won me over. He does every single thing that makes me distrust someone- remembers your name instantly, asks meaningful questions and really listens to your response, makes unfailingly positive and sympathetic comments, and says "thank you" way too much. But after a while it was hard to not believe that the guy is actually like that, and though the NY concert may have just been a fundraiser for Eric and his sponsor, in the end it way okay by me.