Recognised worldwide as a galvanizing force in choral music, Los Angeles-based Eric Whitacre catapulted to international stardom in 2010, when he pioneered the world’s first Virtual Choir, bringing 185 singers together online, and recording a video performance of Lux Aurumque, that has since reached millions.
Since then, he’s become a virtual rock star of contemporary choral music, loved by singers and audiences across the globe. The fifth iteration of his Virtual Choir project, Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of Our Universe, launched in November 2018, brought together 8,000 singers from 120 countries aged from 4 to 87.
Eric joined Julie in the studio on Tuesday Breakfast to discuss the Sydney premiere of his latest major choral work, The Sacred Veil.
The concert program will include Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque (Light and Gold) – one of the most frequently performed works of choral music in the world, his luminous Sainte-Chapelle, and the Sydney premiere of Whitacre’s latest masterpiece, The Sacred Veil; all three created in collaboration with lyricist Silvestri.
These works will be brought to life by the virtuoso singers of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ young adult choir, VOX, cellist Julian Smiles, and pianist Claire Howard Race. Many will remember VOX from the 2022 Sydney Festival and their collaboration with Gravity & Other Myths on the ground-breaking, sold-out, world-premiere season of The Pulse. Similarly, this once-off performance is guaranteed to resonate long after the final note.