Materials: a 40-channel audio system for 40 karaoke singers, arranged in eight groups of five, describing a scattered oval, with each singer’s voice recorded separately and emanating from a single speaker.
40 Part Motet for Karaoke is a sound art installation that features 40 individual karaoke performances arranged in eight groups of five singers. It reimagines Janet Cardiff's '40 Part Motet' (itself an interpretation of Thomas Tallis's 'Spem in Alium') by replacing the original choir recordings with karaoke singers performing popular songs like Frank Sinatra's 'Fly me to the Moon', The Beatles' 'Let it be', Robbie Williams' 'Angels', and Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
While maintaining Cardiff's spatial configuration of 40 audio channels, this installation celebrates amateur singers and personal musical expression in place of traditional choral performance.