He is conducting the world premiere of his new work Eternity in an Hour at the BBC Proms this year. But who is Eric Whitacre?
Who is Eric Whitacre?
Eric Whitacre is one of today’s most popular and most often performed composers. Hailing from Nevada, US, and a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York, the 54 year-old has made his name primarily as a composer of choral music, often conducting it himself, and has broken records with his online Virtual Choir projects. Although he has spent much of his career in California, he has also worked extensively in the UK and currently lives in Belgium with his wife Laurence Servaes, an opera singer.
What is Eric Whitacre’s most famous work?
Lux Aurumque, his haunting four-minute piece for unaccompanied voices, has become a favourite of choirs right across the world, particularly (though not exclusively) at Christmas – it also features on our list of five of the best contemporary choral works. It features on Light and Gold, his debut album as a composer and conductor which, released in 2010, topped the classical charts in both the US and UK and went on to win a Grammy the following year. Other Whitacre favourites include The Seal Lullaby and Sleep, both of which also featured on Light and Gold.
What does Eric Whitacre’s music sound like?
The popularity of many of Whitacre’s shorter choral works lie in their floating, ethereal quality, not dissimilar to that of his fellow American Morten Lauridsen, whom he has acknowledged as an important influence. Sustained crushed harmonies are another Whitacre hallmark. In longer works, he tends to show a more experimental side, including moments of atonalism. His music is largely for voices, his preferred medium. ‘I’ve done some orchestral pieces and some pieces for concert band, but that’s pretty much it,’ he told BBC Music Magazine last year. ‘I can’t imagine not spending most of my time writing for choirs.’
What, then, are his longer pieces?
The best known is The Sacred Veil, a 50-minute piece for voices, cello and piano. Premiered in 2019, it was initially sparked by the death from ovarian cancer of Julia Lawrence Silvestri, the wife of poet and author Charles Anthony Silvestri, a long-time friend of Whitacre’s. The work sets harrowing words by Julia and Tony Silvestri plus reflections by the composer himself. ‘In my entire career as a composer, The Sacred Veil was a singular experience,’ Whitacre told BBC Music Magazine. ‘There were times when I was openly weeping at my desk.’ To date, this has been Whitacre’s longest work, though his 60-minute Eternity in an Hour will surpass that when he conducts its premiere at the BBC Proms in September. This new work will be performed by the BBC Singers and others (Whitacre has just been named as the group's artist-in-residence) on Wednesday 4 September.
What other conducting does Eric Whitacre do?
As well as his own Eric Whitacre Singers, he has conducted many ensembles on both sides of the Atlantic, in repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary composers. Such ensembles have included the choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he is a former visiting fellow and composer in residence, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, with whom he was artist in residence.
What is Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir?
In 2010, Whitacre invited amateur singers across the world to record themselves individually singing his Lux Aurumque and send their videos to be edited together into one vast online chorus. Thousands took part, and further Virtual Choir projects followed, including Sing Gently which, put together during lockdown, featured an astonishing 17,572 singers.
So why do people enjoy singing his music so much?
Though Whitacre says he does not have a particularly special voice himself, his time singing bass in choirs has given him a valuable insight into composing for them. As such, he always puts practicality first. ‘My North Star as a composer is always “Is this singable?”,’ he says. ‘I sing through ever one of my parts to see if, say, a phrase can be done in one breath. I also try to give everybody a sense of line and a vocal arch that makes it feel rewarding to sing.’
And finally, does Eric Whitacre have the best hair in classical music?
Quite possibly. So much so, in fact, that in 2011 he was signed up by leading model agency Storm. This led to him being interviewed in the hallowed pages of Vogue magazine – almost as glamorous as BBC Music Magazine, but not quite.
