HOUSTON — A global music effort is working to keep us healthy by fighting COVID-19 with scores of Houston musicians who are also doctors and nurses.  

The project has helped the U.N. raise $5 million in its first month after its debut on May 22.

Emmy-nominated composer Sharon Farber had the idea to launch a small project to salute and raises funds for COVID-19 workers. But small became huge, international.

“You can see it had a lot of thought in it, a lot passion, a lot of love," Farber said while looking at the finished video.

From the sweeping shots of iconic worldwide landmarks like India’s Taj Mahal to the Sidney Opera House in Australia, that much is clear. The breathtaking scenery is set to to Farber’s rendition of "I'm Standing With You." The 2020 Oscar-nominated song was written by Diane Warren for the film Breakthrough.

Farber, based in Los Angeles, needed a few musicians to accompany the singers. She thought who better for this kind of effort than the award-winning Texas Medical Center Orchestra. Farber called the orchestra’s artistic director and conductor Libi Lebel in Houston. 

“Within 2 hours, Libi called me and said, ‘OK, I have 75 people who want to participate.’ I said, ‘But the arrangement is only for a small group.’ She said, ‘Well, rearrange it!’” Farber said.

The Texas Medical Center Orchestra is made up of doctors, nurses and health care professionals. They were doubly impacted by COVID-19. 

“We had to cancel our season so abruptly. So this project came at just the right time," Lebel said.

Farber recorded a simple demo vocal and attached a click track, an electronic metronome. She sent that along with each musician’s score.

“We each had to record our own video at home," Lebel said.

It was tricky and required many attempts. Each musician listened to the demo recording thru a headphone, while playing and recording his or her part.

Read the full article on the KHOU website.