How This Year's OffChoir Pulled Off A Successful Performance?

It's been weeks since OffKai Expo Gen 3 happened in Burlingame, CA with a packed crowd of around 2,500 visitors. Every participant has their own story, and we found people who are happy to share their stories with us.

We take a look inside the OffKai Gen 3 experience from the points-of-view of two vendors, a panelist, a main stage participant and a visitor.

First in this series of stories is a behind-the-scenes look at this year's successful performance of OffChoir, the front act for the OffKai Live concert.

Part of the Choir

One of our good friends Kenley Cheung, who told us about his organization's first VTuber meet-and-greet at Sakura-Con in Seattle months ago, joins us this time to share his experience as a member of this year's ensemble.

"Being a part of OffChoir reignited my love of music. I used to take private music (piano and violin) lessons as a child. In middle school, I was in orchestra class and had one semester where everyone in orchestra class was put in chorus class for one day every week and learned how to sing.

"As I grew older, my priorities and interests changed and I did not touch music for a very long time. When I saw the announcement for OffChoir participation on social media, I thought that this would be a chance to look at music again."

Kenley and other choir members sang a fantastic medley of VTuber music from a variety of groups for this year's salvo. Deep within his participation is his regained interest in music, thanks to VTubers.

"During the pandemic, listening to music by VTubers was my escape during a very dark time. My favorite VTuber artists are Ironmouse, Mori Calliope, and Hoshimachi Suisei. Their music was a bright light during a time where I had little to no in-person social interaction.

"Being able to sing their songs on a big stage with people who also share the same interests and passion inspired me to return to music again."

On top of these, his favorite moment at this year's event was an unexpected, unplanned reunion with an old friend that he had seen in 2018. "They told me that they were happy to see me thrive in the VTuber community, and I told them about the OffChoir performance at OffKai Live.

"They promised me that they would make every effort to attend. During sound check, they showed up with their friends and they all offered words of encouragement and support before the show. That meant so much to me."

Leading the Pack

Directing the OffChoir is vocal coach Evie, known by her peers as Eebeegames. She set up the Expo's community choir, and has taught music to VTubers at her music studio.

"Last year, most of our songs were from larger agencies such as hololive. This year, we wanted to still represent hololive (we were super psyched to see them on the guest list), but also include selections from other agencies and groups such as Phase Connect, V4Mirai, Production Kawaii, Idol Corp, VShojo, and PRISM Project (now PRIMA Project).

"These groups have absolutely made their mark on the VTuber community, and I wanted to show love and support for them by singing their songs!"

Preparations Unlike Any Choir

Evie explained at length how's the process of producing OffChoir. "OffChoir isn't, and never will be, an audition only ensemble. My goal with OffChoir is to bring people together through two things: their love of VTubers, and their love of music. We had some people that were seasoned vocal performers, and some people where this was their first time performing in a choir."

Logistics proved to be quite a challenge for the East Coast-based vocal coach. "Traditional choir rehearsals simply don't work over Discord, especially with that much distance. Most of our rehearsals focused on analyzing the score, discussing vocal technique, how to practice different sections, and making sure everyone understood the role their part played during each song."

Most of the choir members hail from the West Coast, so her task is to make sure everyone know how to learn the music. "We even did a mock run-through where I turned my camera on and conducted through the medley while everyone stayed on mute while singing so they could get used to my cues and style of conducting.

"Even though there was things we needed to work on once everyone arrived at the con, this process ensured everyone knew their music and how to sing their parts, so in-person rehearsal time could be directed towards getting used to singing together and polishing the medley."

Trust Your Gut

Conducting this year's OffChoir taught Evie an important lesson. "The biggest thing I learned this year is to trust myself. As a performer, I've always struggled with performance anxiety. For a long time, I had the mentality of 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong' during a performance, but that's not always true."

She told us what exactly is the most challenging part of the medley. "Planetarium was by far the hardest section to conduct: it's a section in the medley where there's no instrumental for a long period of time, so I need to make sure my tempo is exactly right, or else the choir wouldn't come back in on the right time.

"This transition was the hardest: if I was a little bit too fast, or a little bit too slow, we wouldn't come in at the right time as the instrumental. I practiced, practiced, and practiced and finally got it right! I even practiced on the plane ride to the convention, conducting with one hand with very small motions.

The first group rehearsal went well, however the second one got Evie panicking as she had to double her effort in making sure the visual cues and audio are in sync. Despite understanding Murphy's Law, she trusts her gut, and this year's OffChoir was a resounding success.

"This performance absolutely taught me to trust my gut, and honestly helped cure a lot of my imposter syndrome. I've never considered myself a 'good' conductor, and I'm always afraid of looking like I don't know what I'm doing, despite years of practice and study. After this performance though, I feel confident saying I know how to lead a choir!"

In closing, what is Evie's agenda for the next OffChoir performance? "My long-term goal is to eventually get enough interest, and as OffKai grows as a convention, to do a full choir and orchestra. Participants can suggest songs for next year's medley, and our goal is to have the score for OffChoir 2025 done in early March."

—with reports and assistance from correspondent Nethyr of nullptr::live / Select screencaps from OffKai Expo on Twitch

Anyone interested in participating for next year's OffChoir can join their Discord server and be informed of the latest updates.