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A global online collective of musicianswillunite for their first real-life meeting and performance at theTEDxconference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on November 28. At thecenterof the story is Whitney Vandell from Ethiopia, a musicalprodigyadopted by an American missionary and music teacher.
‘Growing up without exposure to popular music the idea of becomingarecording artist never crossed my mind.
When my grandparents gave me a MacBook for graduation Idiscoveredhow simple it is to record and mix multiple trackslayered on topof each other. Hearing how the music in my headactually soundslike changed my life’, says Whitney.
After pushing the limits of home recording as far as shecould,Whitney reached out to professional musicians on Internetforums tohelp her complete her album.
The result is a collection of tracks that defy categorization ofanygenre or performance style. The completed album seamlesslyblendseverything from classical, rock, hip-hop, and the blues tofolkmusic without pretension or prejudice and will be launched attheTEDx conference in Addis Ababa.
The inspiring story is proof to musicians worldwide that itdoesn’tmatter whom or where you are located. All you need toproduce asymphonic album with a string section, brass and choir ispassion,a laptop and an Internet connection.
“Today, neither borders nor differences in language or culturecankeep musicians apart to stop them from realising theirdreams!Despite us all being from different worlds and working withoceansbetween us we came together as if we were all sitting in thesameroom”, says Scott Schurr, a violinist and collaborator onthealbum.

To raise the funds needed to cover travel expenses for as manyofthe musicians as possible, a pre-release of Whitney’s debutalbum‘One-Girl Symphony’ will be sold exclusively as an Androidmobileapp for 1 USD.
It will feature four full songs along with extracts fromthealbum.
A KickStarter campaign is also being launched on August 1 andamongthe rewards offered to supporters are homestays in Addis AbabawithWhitney as your guide.

For more information, please visit thewebsite:www.WhitneyVandell.com