Eric Whitacre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Whitacre
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Whitacre conducting in 2007
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| Born | January 2, 1970 Reno, Nevada, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Las Vegas Juilliard School |
| Occupation | Composer, conductor, speaker |
| Spouse(s) |
Hila Plitmann
(m. 1998; div. 2017)Laurence Servaes
(m. 2019) |
| Children | 1 (with Plitmann) 1 (with Servaes, b. 2020) |
Eric Edward Whitacre (born January 2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker. He is especially famous for his beautiful choral music.
Contents
Early Life and Music
Eric Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada. As a child, he took piano lessons sometimes. He also played the synthesizer in a techno-pop band, hoping to become a rock star!
When he went to college, Eric didn't want to join the choir at first. But he was convinced to try it. He said that his first choir practice changed his life. He felt like he had been seeing the world in black and white, and suddenly everything became full of bright colors. It was an amazing experience for him to hear different musical sounds and people singing together.
Even though he couldn't read music very well back then, Eric started his full music training at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He earned a degree in Music Composition.
Eric Whitacre's Career
Eric Whitacre continued his music studies, learning about composing and conducting. When he was 21, he wrote a piece called "Go, Lovely Rose" for his college choir. He then went on to get his master's degree at the Juilliard School, a very famous music school.
At 23, he wrote his first piece for a wind orchestra called "Ghost Train." This piece became very popular and has been recorded many times. While at Juilliard, he met his first wife, Hila Plitmann, who is a singer.
Award-Winning Albums
Eric Whitacre's first album as both a composer and conductor was called Light & Gold. It won a Grammy Award in 2012. This album quickly became the number one classical album in the US and UK! His second album, Water Night, came out in 2012. It featured his own professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers.
Music for Movies
Eric Whitacre has also worked on music for movies. In 2011, he teamed up with famous film composer Hans Zimmer for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Eric helped compose the "Mermaid Theme" and conducted some of the choir parts. His wife, Hila Plitmann, sang the solo parts and even created a special language for the mermaids! Eric enjoyed working with Hans Zimmer, calling him a brilliant composer. They worked together again for the 2016 film Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Working with Famous Groups
Eric Whitacre has written music for many famous groups. These include the London Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the King's Singers. His musical play, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, won several awards. He also leads workshops called "Soaring Leap" where singers, conductors, and composers can learn and perform his music.
From 2011 to 2016, he was a special composer at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, England. He also became an artist in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2016.
Eric's Family Life
Eric Whitacre was married to singer Hila Plitmann from 1998 to 2017. They have a son named Esh Edward, who was born in 2005.
In 2019, Eric married Belgian opera singer Laurence Servaes in Hawaii. They have a son named Julian, who was born in 2020.
Eric Whitacre's Music Style
Eric Whitacre's music often has a special sound. He sometimes uses parts where singers can make their own choices about how to sing, which makes the music sound unique each time. He also gives unusual instructions, sometimes asking for hand actions or props.
People have described his music as "weightless" and "shimmering." It has harmonies that seem to shift and change, making it sound both modern and easy to listen to. Some say his style is like "neo-impressionistic" music, which means it creates a certain feeling or mood, much like impressionist paintings.
Exciting Projects
Virtual Choir
Eric Whitacre is very well known for his "Virtual Choir" projects. He got the idea when a young girl sent him a video of herself singing one of his songs. For these projects, singers from all over the world record themselves singing one of his pieces. They upload their videos online. Then, all the videos are put together and synced up to create one big performance. It's like a giant choir, but everyone is singing from their own home!
- His first Virtual Choir, "Lux Aurumque," had 185 singers from 12 countries. It has been watched millions of times!
- Virtual Choir 2.0, "Sleep," had over 2,000 voices from 58 countries.
- Virtual Choir 3, "Water Night," had 3,746 singers from 73 countries.
- Virtual Choir 4, "Fly to Paradise," included 8,409 videos from 5,905 people in 101 countries. It was shown at Buckingham Palace!
- In 2014, he launched the Virtual Youth Choir with UNICEF for the Commonwealth Games. It had 2,292 singers aged 18 and under.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Eric created Virtual Choir 6, "Sing Gently." It featured an amazing 17,572 singers from 129 countries, including some performers using sign language.
These virtual choirs have had over 60 million views in total! In December 2020, an album called Sing as One was released, featuring recordings of all eight virtual choirs.
Deep Field
Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of the Universe is a special film that combines music and amazing visuals. It's a project with Eric Whitacre, NASA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. The film is shown in IMAX theaters and at science events.
It was inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope and its famous "Deep Field" image, which shows thousands of galaxies far, far away. The music for the film was composed by Eric Whitacre and features Virtual Choir 5, with over 8,000 voices from 120 countries, along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Eric Whitacre Singers
The Eric Whitacre Singers are Eric's own professional choir. They perform music from different time periods, including Eric's own works. They have performed at the BBC Proms and with famous artists like Imogen Heap and Annie Lennox. They also work with British soul artist Laura Mvula.
Recording Music
Eric Whitacre's first album with Decca Records, Light & Gold, won a Grammy in 2012. Since 2013, he has been releasing music on his own record label called UNQUIET. Some of his releases on this label include Deep Field and Goodnight Moon.
Live Performances
Eric Whitacre often conducts orchestras and choirs around the world. In 2010, he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He also conducted the I Vocalisti choir in Hamburg and the Berlin Rundfunkchor.
He is also a founding member of BCM International, a group of composers who want to create new and exciting music for wind ensembles. Eric has conducted at the BBC Proms multiple times, performing American music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Sacred Veil
The Sacred Veil is a powerful musical work that Eric Whitacre created in 2018 with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. The music and words tell a story about love, loss, and finding comfort. It was inspired by the true story of Silvestri's wife, Julie, who passed away at a young age. The piece was first performed in Los Angeles in 2019.
Awards and Honors
Eric Whitacre has won many awards for his compositions. These include awards from the American Choral Directors Association. His musical play Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings won a Richard Rodgers Award. His album Cloudburst and Other Choral Works was nominated for a Grammy in 2007, and his album Light & Gold won a Grammy for Best Choral Performance in 2012.
Eric Whitacre's Works
Eric Whitacre has written many different types of music. Here are some of his most famous works:
Music for Wind Ensemble
- October
- Lux Aurumque
- Ghost Train
- Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!
Choral Music
- A Boy and a Girl
- Cloudburst
- Deep Field
- Enjoy the Silence (an arrangement of a Depeche Mode song)
- Five Hebrew Love Songs
- Fly to Paradise (Virtual Choir 4)
- Glow (written for Disneyland's World of Color)
- Goodnight Moon
- Hurt (an arrangement of a Nine Inch Nails song)
- Lux Aurumque
- The Seal Lullaby
- Sing Gently (Virtual Choir 6)
- Sleep
- The Sacred Veil
- Water Night
Music for Orchestra
- Deep Field
- October
- Water Night
Music for Film and TV
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (co-composer)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (choirmaster)
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (choral segments)
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (conductor and vocal arrangements)
Images for kids
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Eric Whitacre conducting students in 2009
See also
In Spanish: Eric Whitacre para niños
