New York, NY —

Some 3,000 athletes participated in the 4 kilometer run/walk in Riverside Park over the weekend. But for 35 of those athletes – it was a more transcendent experience. That’s because they were part of public art piece called, "The Crescendo Project." Visual and multi-media artist Laura Nova built what she calls a "praise-singing machine." As the racers crossed the finish line, a tag on their shoe triggered the machine to sing their name to the melody of Handel's Hallelujah, like this: