"Bridge Over Troubled Water" — like you've never heard it before | MAS Vocal

**Elise Hu** (0:04)
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Most days on this show, a speaker steps onto the stage and presents their work and their big idea in the form of a speech or a conversation. But some ideas don't work like that. Some have to be felt. And for me, there's no better vehicle for that than with music. So today, we're bringing you a powerful and necessary idea, shared through song.
What you're about to hear is a performance of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water, reimagined in a new arrangement by the musician, composer, and TED guest curator, Jacob Collier. It's performed by the Miami-based youth choir, MAS Vocal. And stick around after the performance. Jacob Collier comes back to share more about what it was like the first time he heard this choir sing. And a detail about how these high schoolers pulled off his arrangement that genuinely surprised us. That's coming up, right after a short break.
And now, our TED performance of the day.

**Jacob Collier** (1:17)
Are you ready for some magic? Some real magic. Now, music has the power to completely transform a life in an instant. And over the course of my life, I've been lucky enough to hear some pretty extraordinary music. But every now and then, a moment comes along that alters the trajectory of your life forever. And one such moment for me was the first time I heard this extraordinary choir that is standing here before you. They are unlike anything you've ever heard in your whole life. They are high schoolers. High schoolers. And I can say, yes.
And I can say with absolute certainty that from this moment forth, your life will be divided into two sections.
That before which you heard this choir sing, and that after. And so without further ado, singing My Arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon Garfunkel, conducted by Cindy Ellis, please give a very, very warm welcome to the MAS Vocal Choir.

**Elise Hu** (9:18)
That was MAS Vocal and Jacob Collier at TED 2026 And now, TED guest curator Jacob Collier will share a bit more about why this choir changed his life forever.

**Jacob Collier** (9:30)
Hi, everybody. I'm Jacob Collier, your TED music curator. How did you enjoy that performance? Wasn't it spectacular? The first time I heard that choir saying, I knew that my life would never quite be the same again. Instant goosebumps covered my body. They are high school students, so I understand high school students. And a fun fact to realize is that they learned that arrangement, which was my arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water, entirely by ear. So no notation was used. They learned by ear, which makes all those complex chords even more extraordinary. So I hope you enjoyed the MAS Vocal Choir, and I'll see you all there very soon. Cheerio.

**Elise Hu** (9:58)
Bye.
If you're curious about TED's curation, visit ted.com/curationguidelines.
And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is a podcast from TED. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Lucy Little, Emma Taubner, and Tansika Sengmarniwong. Additional support from Daniela Ballarezzo, Christopher Faisi-Bogan, Valentina Bohannini, Ban Ban Chang, Brian Greene, and Lainey Lott. Learn more at podcasts.ted.com. I am Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.