Eric Whitacre: SLEEP VIRTUAL CHOIR
[Singing voices in background, all through the presentation: choral musical excerpt from "Sleep"]
>> ERIC: It all started with this one young girl who sent me this video of herself singing
one of my choral pieces, and I was struck so hard by it - the beauty, the intimicy of it...
(Eric Whitacre. Composer and Conductor)
...the sweetness of it, and I thought it would be amazing if we could get 100 people
to do this and cut it all together and make a virtual choir. So I then went into the studio
and I conducted in total silence, and I could only hear it in my head, and I loaded all of
that up to YouTube, and I sent out a call to singers across the world and the response
was totally overwhelming. We had 185 singers from 12 different countries. It was all about
connecting with these people all over the world... and... these individuals, alone, together.
When we did "Lux", then I think we really started getting it, so this time we're going to go
back, do "Sleep" for real. Just the way I always imagined it would be. For me, singing together
and making music together is a fundamental human experience, and I love the idea that
technology can bring people together from all over the world and get people to participate
in this... in this transcending experience.
To be a part of the next Virtual Choir, visit: WWW.ERICWHITACRE.COM